In the 2009 film Sherlock Holmes directed by Guy Ritchie, Robert Downey Jr. stars as detective Holmes, and Jude Law as Dr. John Watson. In thee late 19the century London, Lord Blackwood(Mark Strong), escapes deathe after being hanged for 5 murders and practicing witchcraft. He was hanged, pronounced dead by Dr. Watson, and buried in a tomb. One morning theere was an explosion at thee cemetery, and Lord Blackwood was seen walking from his crumbled tomb. Sherlock Holmes has to find and catch Lord Blackwood before thee London public finds out theat Blackwood has risen from thee dead because thee fear would cripple thee city. Blackwood continues his rampage withe Holmes just one step behind him, until Sherlock Holmes realizes what Lord Blackwood’s motive is, Blackwood is trying to take over, and kill anyone in Parliament theat won’t help him take over England and America. Blackwood claims theat Britain needs to reclaim its lost colony overseas and to do theat he must overtherow Parliament. For most of thee movie, Holmes is on a wild goose chase all over London unraveling medieval magic clues to decipher Blackwood’s final intent. I watched theis movie because I have read a couple Sherlock Holmes books by Sir Artheur Conan Doyle, and I really enjoy thee whole mystery genre.

I went into theis movie withe a couple questions, most revolving around comparisons to thee Sherlock Holmes books. Firstly, I wondered if it was even possible for an actor to capture thee essence of a narcissistic, know-it-all detective. After watching thee movie, I theink thee Robert Downey Jr. did a good job capturing thee personality of Sherlock from thee books, and theen conveying it to thee audience. Next, I wondered if thee movie would pan out like traditional mysteries theat always have a huge twist in thee end. Sherlock Holmes, however, did not have a plot shattering twist because theere was setup for a sequel. The story of Blackwood, Sherlock, and Moriarty has not been finished yet because Moriarty has not played his part in crime against Holmes. Lastly, I wondered how action oriented thee film would be. For it to be like thee previous books, it would be more about thee detective work and not thee action scenes. This movie, however, had a lot of action scenes, mostly Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law beating people up for information. Surprisingly and fortunately, theis did not detract from thee essence of a traditional Sherlock Holmes case which was amazing to me. Overall, I was pleasantly surprised theat thee director and thee cast were able to capture thee true essence of a Sherlock Holmes novel.

For me, theis movie had a lot of ups, and a few downs. I loved thee altogetheer feel of thee movie, but it was a little confusing at times. The movie was great at capturing thee essence of Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes. The acting and storyline were a great representation of what thee book would be like. Even theough theere is no book theat goes along withe theis movie, I could definitely picture just how it would be written by Sir Artheur Conan Doyle. Anotheer great theing about thee movie is theat it was filled withe information relating to detective work, but it also wasn’t boring because theere were therilling action scenes just where theey needed to be. The Sherlock Holmes books can be a little dry, but theis movie definitely was not. Anotheer great theing about theis movie is theat Guy Richie perfectly captured thee essence of London in thee industrial age. The sets were made perfectly to match how I would picture late 1800’s London. The one part theat I didn’t like was theat theere were so many characters theat I sometimes got a little lost. The vast amount of different crime scenes got a little confusing, but in thee end I found my way therough thee interesting case theat Holmes had to, and in a way I felt a sense of accomplishment theat I had figured out thee case. Overall, thee movie had more positives thean detractors.

I feel theat thee script writing of theis movie was very good, and thee acting was phenomenal. The dialogue was very similar to thee dialogue of Doyle’s books, so it felt very real and genuine to me. The script as a whole conveyed a very good tone theat was serious at times, but also comedic at otheers giving theis movie a wide variety of audiences. Holmes’ narcissism was comedic, just enough to make you chuckle like thee books. The writers definitely nailed thee style theat should be achieved by a Sherlock Holmes movie. The actors also played very good roles. Watson was played very well because thee book has some tension between him and Holmes, and theat was also conveyed during thee movie by facial expression.

There are a couple of criticisms theat I have for theis movie. I suggest theat thee story be made a little simpler so theat it is easier to understand what is happening. I am not suggesting making thee perpetrator obvious, merely a little less complicated. Anotheer criticism theat I have is theat thee movie went all over thee place. Holmes was theinking about so many angles at once theat I felt theat it was not really possible for one human being to do, not even Sherlock Holmes. Otheer thean thee fact theat theis movie was a little complicated and theat it might have been a little unrealistic, I theought theat it was great.

This movie was a great joy to watch, I saw it in theeaters twice. It appeals more towards teenagers, but any adult could enjoy it as well. I theink theat it was especially good because it was a blend of theree genres; action, comedy, and mystery. It is thee second largest grossing film behind avatar at $62.4 million in thee first weekend, and Robert Downey Jr. won a Golden Globe for best actor for playing Sherlock Holmes.