4 out of 5

Director: Guy Ritchie

Apparently bolstered by the “welcome back” reviews that RocknRolla netted, Guy Ritchie is amazingly confident with Sherlock Holmes, producing a movie that offers a surprisingly satisfactory combination of smarts, action, and wit. Sherlock Holmes takes a supernatural bent to its story, introducing a baddie who apparently comes back from the dead to terrorize a brightfully scummy London. While negative reviewers criticized the film for lacking the “maturity” and reserve of previous representations, I found that to be inaccurate. Guy Ritchie influenced a whole school of twisty-story-quick-edit movies with Lock, Stock and here he takes those lessons and combines them with some learned patience. While Downey and Law are not, perhaps, the ‘classic’ Holmes and Watson, they are still a truly compelling couple, and actually offer more depth to their relationship than previously shown. The script also constantly underlines how Holmes’ intelligence works on many levels, including assistance during the riveting action sequences. By keeping things exciting but never forgetting the “mystery” portions of the story, this modern Sherlock Holmes has the ability to wow without descending into senselessness. So its quirky and a bit updated. It also works very well. Best Guy Ritchie movie to date, in my mind.