Sherlock Holmes

A film set in Victorian London. Holmes gives up a man caught during a rite. Lord Blackwood had killed five women and is hanged. Watson is about to marry. He will move out of their shared rooms and Holmes cannot accept it. Blackwood comes out of his grave. The records say he is dead and he is seen again in the city. From there the film is an investigation. A slaughterhouse, a shipyard, a temple, and a bridge under construction. What the narrative is interested in is not magic but explanation: everything that looks supernatural is finally tied to a mechanical account, and Holmes takes you through it step by step. The fights use an unusual method. Holmes plans his moves in his head first; the narrative shows that as a slowed inner voice and then repeats it at real speed. The character is cold and disordered as in the books; he boxes, runs chemical experiments, and collapses when there is no work. Watson is not an assistant but a partner. He shoots, supplies the medical knowledge, and argues with Holmes constantly. The Irene Adler line is a third strand with someone else behind it; the narrative leaves that open for the next film. The image is dirty. London is deliberately muddy, smoky and crowded; some of the sets were built in old dock and factory buildings in the north of England. The music is by Hans Zimmer and is built on a violin played deliberately out of tune. Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Rachel McAdams, Mark Strong and Eddie Marsan are in the cast. Guy Ritchie directed. Who it is for: anyone who wants a fast, funny adaptation pulled toward action. Who it is not for: anyone expecting the calm deductive tone of the books; the film is built as an adventure.