Sherlock Holmes 2009 Movie Review
December 30th, 2009 by James | This article was viewed 5,348 times.
Hmm, Sherlock Holmes, I’ve always had great expectations over novel based movies and most of the time they disappoint me. Everybody told me to watch this movie like it is some kind of “must watch” movie, but it turned out that the maximum I could give for the movie was a mere 6.5/10.
Before I start my review, I must say that I am not a fan of Sherlock Holmes, I have not read any of the books before, I only knew the title existed before and I am only giving honest review based on what I perceive the movie. One of the reason why I am giving 6.5 (instead of 7.8 at imdb) is because of the “something is missing” feeling I got after the movie.
Storyline
I learned that the storyline of the Sherlock Holmes movie has nothing to do with any of its novels. The characters were just simply taken out from the book and they invented their own storyline. In fact, the current Sherlock Holmes does not even take a magnifying glass anymore. That’s all right, given that if the storyline is interesting, which is not, so to speak.
The flow of the story is rubbish. It starts out with some action then it went all (quite) monotonous for probably one and a half hour then shot all the way to its climax and ends with another baddie coming into the picture. Typical movie, I nearly fell asleep.
However, as bad as the storyline could be, Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr) did a pretty good job in wrapping up the movie. Whatever that needs to be explained was explained.
Action
I am quite astonished by the fact that they came up with this very creative idea of analyzing which body points to attack, they tell you the flow of attack and how traumatized the person would be before an attack. It is like a walk through on a series of attacks, then followed by the real deal.
The magic tricks, or should I say science tricks used by the Lord Blackwood was also pretty cool. But the “Wow factor” isn’t there, probably due to the explanation given had made the magic tricks look uncool.
Humour
Throughout the movie, there were a lot of jokes … cold jokes to be exact. I laughed at a few, but most of them I just couldn’t be bothered to care. It does give us the idea that the characters are witty, but not all of the jokes are laughable.
However, do pay attention to the few that are laughable.
Actors
I have mixed feelings over whether or not Robert Downey Jr. is the right person to act Sherlock Holmes. I agree that Robert is a superb actor; his act in Iron Man is flawless. However, his British accent is down the drain. Robert’s an American, so having him to speak in British accent is like asking a bird to quack.
His role as Sherlock Holmes is perfect and he had shown the wittiness of Sherlock Holmes, but had failed terribly at his British accent.
In a Nutshell
Movie wise, it is just another 2009 movie, not as spectacular as District 9 or Avatar. It does contain its own creativity though and gets you to wonder how the magic was done. But it is just not good enough. Not to mention the movie cannot live without Robert Downey Jr. If you put him out of the picture, the movie fails entirely. On the other hand, if you put him in the picture, his British accent sucks, which is another factor why I rated the movie so low.
Choice wise, if you think your cinema does not have subtitles, spending regular ticket price on such a movie is a waste of money. If you think you can understand all kinds of accent, you might also want to think twice because the movie is not that good. If I were given the chance again, I would choose to save the money instead.
My point is, Sherlock Holmes 2009 is not a movie worth watching in the cinema.
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December 30th, 2009 at 7:25 pm
I saw it a few days ago and personally I’d give it a 7.5/10. Although I’ve never read the books, the story was good, the actors played the parts well (plus I’m a big fan of Robert Downey Jr), there was comedy and action, and all in all it just was a good movie.
January 3rd, 2010 at 8:38 pm
I guess judging from your review Robert Downey Jr should have just stuck to his recent Iron Man role, hehe.
Till then,
Jean
January 9th, 2010 at 10:16 am
The above review comes across as quite juvenile. The jokes are “cold”? Downey Jr’s British accent is “down the drain”? If you “can’t understand accents” then you shouldn’t go see this movie? Hmmm.
I, on the other hand, highly recommend this movie. Yes, the plot is original and does not owe to any single Sherlock Holmes stories, rather it borrows elements from a lot of them. The depiction of Holmes in this movie (as well as Watson and some other key characters) is actually very faithful to the original Sir Arthur Conan Doyle books, much more so than previous film and television productions. I did not find the film monotonous at all. The pace was quite active. The acting was very good, especially the interaction between Holmes (Downey Jr) and Watson (Law). The “look” of 1890′s London is recreated believably. And the music for the film is very fitting. GO SEE THIS FILM!
February 2nd, 2010 at 11:30 pm
I guess judging from your review Robert Downey Jr should have just stuck to his recent Iron Man role, hehe.
February 2nd, 2010 at 11:31 pm
The above review comes across as quite juvenile. The jokes are “cold”? Downey Jr’s British accent is “down the drain”? If you “can’t understand accents” then you shouldn’t go see this movie? Hmmm.
February 25th, 2010 at 10:15 pm
You have to roll your eyes at people who giggle and suggest that anytime two men share a close relationship, it’s oh, so OBVIOUSLY homosexual! Give me an f’ing break. No wonder men today feel like they have to act like macho arseholes.
March 9th, 2010 at 8:36 pm
I watched this movie again a few times being a big fan of Robert Downey, jr, but I have to say it wasn’t as good as it could’ve been. :( Hopefully he comes out with a hit soon.
Till then,
Jean
March 20th, 2010 at 5:03 am
I can’t understand why anyone would be a big fan of Robert Downey Jr. He comes across as a total ass. I struggle to remember a single role of his that I enjoyed. That is why I have yet to see this movie. I’ll wait till I can watch it for much cheaper. I don’t like how they have suddenly turned Sherlock Holmes into some street fighter instead of a polished detective. If they were going to stray that far from the original storyline, they should’ve just created all new characters. The problem is they needed the Sherlock Holmes name to sell theater tickets.
March 27th, 2010 at 1:31 pm
I don’t see that.
They don’t work all cases together and most of the time the main subject of their talks are not about the cases, but personal matters (House’s, most of them).
But I do see Wilson having feelings for Greg.
I’m referring to the episode when Wilson falls for Amber because she is just like House.
March 29th, 2010 at 5:58 pm
6/10 from me.
April 22nd, 2010 at 8:13 am
Well I tried to give this one a chance, despite my dislike of Robert Downey Jr. It was as bad as I expected. My girlfriend, my best friend and I all managed to fall asleep part way through this one. Trying to follow Downey’s horrible accent just put us all to sleep. Don’t waste your time on this movie unless you need something to fall asleep to.
April 26th, 2010 at 7:33 am
I like Robert Downey Jr. because he’s a good actor who’s just not gotten too many good breaks. He was great in Weird Science as well as in the TV show Ally McBeal, for example.
Till then,
Jean
May 13th, 2010 at 1:49 pm
such a shame….the best time of those books were the stories. Very disappointed, it sort of ruined it for me, cause as a child reading those stories I always tried to picture the characters, and how it would make into a movie. Suffice to say, this is not what I was thinking
May 26th, 2010 at 8:48 am
I pictured something quite different too. I don’t know why they would take one character and put such a different spin on it. They could’ve at least called it something differently to stress that it was the early years or whatever.
June 16th, 2010 at 8:45 pm
Great review…I do really want to see this one. The sterotypical Sherlock Holmes that has been portrayed in other movies isn’t the book character either…