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                Even though the famous book series, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Conan Doyle have been made into films many times, this was by far the most youthful and action packed portrayal of Sherlock Holmes. The movie begins when Sherlock Holmes and his partner, Dr. Watson, find Lord Blackwood, a mass murderer, killing and torturing a woman with his “black magic”. It is then decided by the police that he will be hanged as a consequence for his multiple murders. However, the day after Lord Blackwood is executed he is seen coming back up from his grave, back from the dead to continue on with his mission take over the world with what appeared to be imposing his “black magic” on London. Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson jump right back on the case and search through London to capture Lord Blackwood before it is too late.

Overall, I enjoyed this fast-moving movie, and the casting was very good.  The two principal characters, Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) and Dr. Watson (Jude Law), were well suited for their roles. The funniest part of the movie was the distinct contrast between Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. The majority of the time, even though he was a genius, Sherlock Holmes was a complete mess in terms of his personal appearance and the unkemptness of his home, whilst Dr. Watson, a more ordinary character, always made sure that Sherlock Holmes kept together.

 In my opinion, too much of the movie was spent fighting as I would have expected more humor and detective analysis.  The scenes where Sherlock Holmes displayed his incredible intuitive detective abilities were by far the most captivating. For example, he was able to tell just rom a man’s unusually green colored eyes and peculiarly shaped ears that he was Lord Blackwood’s father. No ordinary person would be able to retrieve as many details about a person from so few clues. It was also amazing how Sherlock Holmes could often deduce how an event either had happened or even would play out. An example of this is when Sherlock Holmes was fighting a man twice his size in a bar, he carefully planned out exactly how would win the fight in his head, and then seconds later went through with his plan and won the fight. Being able to see what Sherlock Holmes was thinking definitely enhanced the movie by allowing people to see what Sherlock Holmes did that made him such an amazing detective.

All in all it is an entertaining movie that lacks some of the intrigue that one might have expected to see.   This movie set the stage for more possible Sherlock Holmes to come as his arch rival Professor Moriarty lurked. I would definitely recommend this movie even though it was different that I expected it to be.