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"Forget the tweed coat, the deerstalker hat and curmudgeonly manner; Guy Ritchie&amp;#039;s Sherlock Holmes is more likely to beat up wimps like that. Robert Downey Jr even takes the opportunity to whip off his blouson and show off his abs in the role of the great detective whilst Jude Law plays sidekick Dr Watson as a straight hitter, not the bumbling layman he&amp;#039;s usually portrayed as. Essentially, this is Lethal Weapon in ye olde worlde London, which will surely have the purists up in arms, but as buddy flicks go, it&amp;#039;s a welcome twist. And certainly Ritchie&amp;#039;s best film since Lock, Stock... He cuts straight to the chase, horse-and-cart style through the Victorian cobbled streets, as Sherlock and Watson apprehend the murderous Lord Blackwood (Mark Strong playing to type). In fact, he&amp;#039;s so evil, he refuses to die after being hanged for his crimes and his association with the occult - plus the fact that his body is not in its grave - leads to talk of resurrection. Of course Holmes is a man of logic and his fascination with the supernatural extends only so far as his desire to debunk it. That friction translates to the period setting; slap-bang in the middle of the Industrial Revolution when manmade wonders begin to overtake religious faith. Ritchie celebrates the age with sweeping, sepia-toned vistas of the London docklands where factories and shipyards begin to dominate the skyline. He also affords us a glimpse of those cogs turning inside Holmes&amp;#039;s head - pre-CSI - picking up on the smallest details as he follows a trail of murder across the city. He&amp;#039;s only partially distracted by Rachel McAdams as the femme fatale, Irene Adler, who leads him down a few dead-end streets in the search for Blackwood. At the same time, Watson is procrastinating over his engagement to a young governess (Kelly Reilly), but both subplots feel hastily tacked-on. At best they highlight the real romance of the story; that is the love-hate relationship between the two men. Downey Jr brings that natural aura of the loveable rogue to Holmes who doesn&amp;#039;t think twice about insulting Watson&amp;#039;s fianc\u00C3\u00A9e to assert his superiority. Like every other genius portrayed in fiction, he has trouble with &amp;#039;feelings&amp;#039; and there&amp;#039;s a brief nod to his drug addiction which is referenced in the books by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It is just a passing reference though and the darker themes linking to the paranormal (most famously tackled by Doyle in The Hound Of The Baskervilles) are heavily glossed over as well. Blackwood seeks world domination by instigating a climate of fear and whilst that resonates with current concerns, Ritchie is obviously appealing to the youth vote. There are copious fights and explosions and Holmes is always ready with a cheesy one-liner to combat the gravity of impending death. Law does a great job of cutting Holmes down to size with a few wisecracks of his own and whilst the two actors have very different styles, they work well together. Downey Jr appears to exist on a higher plain with his wild-eyed intensity and constant rambling (which can be tough to decipher!) so Law&amp;#039;s down-to-earth approach is key to keeping us engaged. Likewise, the storytelling gets a tad convoluted and feels mechanical at times; the combined charms of the duo being the crutch for this limping plot. Ritchie makes sure to keep the action moving at a swift pace too, only allowing Holmes (and the rest of us) brief pause for thought. Overall, the finer art of forensic investigation takes second place to the knockabout stuff. Indeed, you could sum up the appeal of the film as, &amp;#039;Elementary, my dear Watson&amp;#039;.  &amp;gt; What do you think of the movie? Share your views "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/movies/review/a192016/sherlock-holmes/>