Sherlock Holmes (2009)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2009
	Director: Guy Ritchie (Snatch, The Man from U.N.C.L.E.)
	Actors: Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man 1-3, Avengers 1-4), Jude Law (A.I., eXistenZ), Rachel McAdams (The Time Traveler's Wife, Midnight in Paris), Mark Strong (Kingsman 1-2)
	Country: USA, D
	Genre: Action, Comedy
	Conditions of visioning: 17.05.2018, VOD, 10" tablet screen.
Synopsis: Sherlock Holmes (Downey) is bored to death when not challenged by apparently unsolvable cases. In the waiting time he torments his former partner soon-to-be-wed Watson (Law), until an old case with mysterious implications re-opens.
Review: I complained about the 2011 sequel Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, and now that Netflix proposes this first movie as well, I could watch it again and remember that it is even worse. I dislike in particular the fact that Holmes uses his deductive genius to be better at ... street fighting, a choice obviously necessary to orient the franchise towards fast-paced action rather than mysterious crime-solving polar. I really didn't like this direction, and also found the editing too hacked (well, Guy Ritchie...) and the music too present. Moreover as the intend was not to show an origins story (for example the meeting between Holmes and Watson), we dive directly into their live at the point when they split, and no time is really given to get to know them, no more than to know Irene Adler for example. All of this made me come to miss the good old Hammer Sherlock Holmes like The Hound of the Baskervilles, and I dream that this poor American version awoke some proud British story-tellers that decided to take back their own national hero and show it in the much better TV version Sherlock the following year. Everything is so much better done in the series: actors, adaptation, stories, characters, villains, ... and to the comment I read that the movie is good in that it shows Sherlock in its original timeline (inlike the one of the series), I would invite to watch the episode 0 of the season 4: The Abominable Bride. A conclusion to the trilogy is sadly announced for 2020.
Rating: 2 /10