sherlock holmes (2009). directed by guy ritchie.

i managed to catch sherlock holmes (2009) today and mr. downey was a joy to watch, that i think he risks turning into johnny depp or jack nicholson in his ability to swallow the screen. that's not a bad thing on its own if the story is about one person alone, but not when you have other characters vying for attention too.

i am a big fan of sir arthur conan doyle's sherlock holmes. definitely one of the books that contributed to my nearsightedness apart from william shakespeare's tragedies. yes, i am a romantic for hamlet and king lear. going back to guy ritchie's holmes, this is not a tribute. merely character adaptation. whilst downey brought his own brand of holmes, which is the antithesis of doyle's holmes; the story has a mass appeal effect to it. it's not strong enough. it's downey's talent that he can be comical without trying, and he is fantastic with expressions which made him quite a stand out. but holmes, would take a lot more than that.

ritchie is aiming for entertainment, not a faithful adaptation. nevertheless, my opinions are eerily similar as this one, taken from imdb.com

Has "Busted Franchise" Written All Over It, 15 December 2009

As a long time Sherlock Holmes fan,I really wanted to say something good about this one, but I really can't. Guy {Madonna's ex} Ritchie modern take on the classic Conan-Doyle stories seems to have been made for a contemporary audience who has no clue {get it?}-on who Holmes is. Downey totally fails as Holmes in a character who is too modern-and possibly too ambigiously gay for the role-not that there's anything wrong with that. Law is just alright as Watson and he does try to bring some comic relief to the character. The story has Holmes trying to stop a plot to destroy London. There are the usual CGI scenes, but for some reason most of them are pretty well done and do manage to capture the essence of what London probably looked like at that time. Even though it is a good looking and well produced movie, it is predictable from start to finish, even though some interesting diversions are placed to add some momentum to the story line. Obviously looking for a new franchise, the producers of this should hope that the Baker St. boys are a hit at the box office. Movie itself is fairly likable, but it just falls flat on what it has to deliver. That's the trouble with Holmes when new stories are written to cater to contemporary tastes. Perhaps if an original Conan-Doyle story was used, this would have turned out better. Where are Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce when you need them?

at best, i give this movie a C.