Sherlock Holmes

Victorian charm is working like never before. The master of deduction comes in full force and his creators have flown into the performance in the most pleasant way possible. Action-packed, grandiose, and clever. Holmes can certainly throw punches, but more importantly, he can perfectly engage the mind. In a complicated plot, everything falls into place, the viewer can barely keep up with the lightning-fast explanations, and Sherlock (along with Guy Ritchie) can leave triumphantly, surpassing his own reputation. This is simply the right Adventure with a capital A. And I will want to be the first for its continuation. (14.01.2010)

A perfect cast, but it doesn’t help much. Strong spends too much time in the background, Law can’t keep up with Downey in any of their scenes (while in this movie they are meant to be on level pegging!), Rachel McAdams is uninspiring, the movie lacks any real case, deduction is not employed, but abused like deus ex machina and so Hans Zimmer steals all the attention. And it’s not that Richie is bored; he is having fun, and it works well in some places, but he fell a long way short of managing to reproduce the type of goofy shenanigans like we saw in Pirates of the Caribbean. But it’s clear that’s what he was aiming for. If you want to make an untraditional Holmes movie, you need either a good idea or you need a good Sherlock to base one’s performance on, which Downey does in any case. ♫ OST score: 4/5 (07.01.2010)

Guy Ritchie at the service of Hollywood. His strongest directorial trademark, as well as Hans Zimmer's most bombastic music exhibition, comes in the impressive introduction. The rest of the film is “just” a nice conversation movie between Robert Downey and Jude Law, set in a world of dark Harry Potter-style magic. There is little to surprise the audience, as the routine script relies on proven elements – great actors and the atmosphere of dangerous, overcast Victorian London. Sherlock Holmes is decent entertainment. (02.01.2010)

It's good that even though Hollywood tinsel tries to pummel Guy Ritchie with its most typical special effects (predictable plot pirouettes, character development), he’s still the distinctive, foxy filmmaker who squeezed the most out of even a banal detective plot within its limits (the boxing match, the flashbacks). Yet the main character (compared to the trailers) is not Robert Downey Jr., but Jude Law, who despite the thankless role of a dry sniffer throws up elegant bon mots and hard fists, and paradoxically I enjoyed him a bit more. Both Strong and McAdams are bland due to the minimal space they get and their total omission in the plot (yes, that’s quite a weakness with Strong as the main villain). Nevertheless, positive feelings prevail, mainly due to the pace, the whole peculiar aura, and Zimmer's very unconventional but excellent work. I’m looking forward to the second film. (14.01.2010)

Guy Ritchie is one of those directors whose qualities I acknowledge but whose films leave me underwhelmed, and Sherlock Holmes left me very much so. I didn’t get bored, I didn’t have fun, I’ve just watched it once and I’m no longer interested in it. I will forget that they exists. Sherlock. Guy. (20.01.2010)