Sherlock Holmes






My grade's hovering around a B. The comedic bits work great and Downey and Law are on fire, but the villain is weak and it loses steam going into act three.

Does it feel like a film the mainstream's gonna like, or did Guy Ritchie do something else?

I honestly don't think so. My crowd ate up every bit of comedy -- the film really is very funny -- but whenever it slowed down for actual detective work, or to build the villain, or really anything with Downey/McAdams, they checked out. And this is a SPOILER I suppose, but the big "guess who's up as baddie for the sequel?" fell completely flat. I don't know if anyone in the crowd actually knows who he is. It played like what would have happened if nobody knew who the Joker was at the end of Batman Begins.

And for as much as people laughed with the jokes, I heard quite a few negative comments on the way out.

was it moriarty? what do you think about its bo potential?

SPOILER ALERT. But c'mon, guys. You had to know it was goin' there.



Yeah. Moriarty's in a couple scenes -- Holmes figures out he's a professor pretty quick, but you don't get the name till the end. But the crowd didn't respond at all when McAdams said "His name's Moriarty." The film even holds, like it wants people to go "Ohhhh," but nobody cared.

If it opens to 40, with the holidays and WOM I expect, I'd say it gets to 130-140.

Idiots.

Seriously, how the hell could you not know who Moriarty is?

Most people are normal?

The sequel-baddie is going to work a lot differently in some other countries, I think. In UK (And this will make huge money in there) it might be hard to find anyone who doesn't know who Moriarty is. I think in general Sherlock Holmes is more popular in Europe than in USA, partially because we have a heavier literary culture here, partially because of the great BBC series with Jeremy Brett, which is a big classic in many European countries, with numerous re-runs.

The interplay between Downey and Law makes it an enjoyable experience. The screenplay tends to stagger around like a drunk teen in a vodka distillery but you can survive it. McAdam's character was a complete waste of time though.

Uhhhhhhhh who the he'll is moriaty?

Shut Up Josh.

I'm being serious I have absolutely no clue who that is

Watch YOUNG SHERLOCK HOLMES after the end credits.

Uh why would I do that

The arch-nemesis of Sherlock Holmes, and one of the most famous villains in literature.

apparently not

Im with Jim, most of the audience had no idea who Moriaty is and neither did I (other than hearing the name from time to time).

Film is solid entertainment though pacing is an issue. A bit of a lull in the middle doesnt help it. Though chemistry between Downey and Law is fantastic. As Gulli and Magnus have said, McAdams character has little to do.

This was certainly entertaining, if uneven. Guy Ritchie's directing was a mixed bag for me; some of the flourishes work (the slo-mo in some of the fighting scenes, Holmes' voice over during the boxing scene) but a lot of the movie just keeps going without any transitions or genuine editing, which kind of annoyed me. Nonetheless, this movie works primarily because of Robert Downey Jr, who I could probably watch in anything. He's totally game for this role and makes Sherlock Holmes his own. He also shares fun chemistry with Jude Law's Watson. The considerable talents of Rachel McAdams are not employed to their best use in this film but she does well with what she's been given. One gets the sense that a lot of this film was set-up for future films, if they choose to make them. Despite that, I appreciated the movie for what it was: an entertaining popcorn movie. B

I saw this yesterday, and I went into it with much trepidation, being a longtime fan of the original source material of Arthur Conan Doyle, as well as loving the Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce films. After the way James Bond was ruined with it's modernization for the A.D.D. generation, I feared the worst, but it survived the scrutiny.

In a way, I still wish nobody knew about Robert Downey Jr. I was the only big fan of him here, and now everybody is, so it's like everybody wants a piece of my pie now...lol I remember championing him heavily for Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang long before it came out to the sound of a pin dropping around here, and now he's one of the biggest stars in the world with everybody seeing why I've been such a big fan for so long.

He did a fine job as Sherlock Holmes, and Jude Law was up to the task of being his muse, Dr. Watson. Rachel McAdams was in a role that any non star could have played. I wouldn't say she had nothing to do, though, but there wasn't any room for character development, and who cares, this was about Sherlock Holmes, not a girl in his life. Awesome setup for the sequel with Moriarty! Should be even better!!

B

It's a botch, sadly. And Ritchie is solely to blame.

I thought it was incredibly boring. The comedy wasn't funny and the action wasn't excited. Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law were quite good and played off each other well, but that's about it. Rachel McAdams talent was completely wasted, she was horrible in it. Also, a number of people were talking about how they were confused as they were leaving the theater... so I'm not completely sure that the mainstream will completely "get it."

5/10 (C-)

I concur with mostly everyone. It's good, not great; enjoyable, but not terribly challenging. Ritchie's stylistic flourishes actually work better than I thought they would with a Sherlock Holmes story, and the comedy and wordplay is spot on. The story is kinda lame, though, and I would've liked more, y'know, actual Holmes detective work and less Holmes action scenes. The fight in the sewer was a total waste.

And how the fuck do people not know who Moriarty is?

Most people simply don't read much books anymore, simple as that.

Boring movie. Pretty much agree with movies35's review. If there's a sequel, it will experience a big drop from this one. Guy Ritchie is all to blame, sadly. If another director had made this, it could have been the fun movie the advertising made it out to be.