A review of the DVD for Sherlock Holmes, starring Robert Downey, Jr. & Jude Law

I have to admit to having watched Sherlock Holmes with Robert Downey, Jr., and Jude Law several times since it came out of DVD in 2010. I grew up reading the Sherlock Holmes short stories and novels by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and watched most of the old movie on television that starred Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce. As much as I wanted to see the new Sherlock Holmes in the movie theater, I couldn’t because of an illness that had put me in the hospital for over a month. I was still recovering from the ordeal this film was released on Christmas Day. So, I waited for the DVD to come out and crossed my fingers that it would be everything I hoped, and it was.

I’ve known of Robert Downey, Jr. since he did Weird Science in 1985, and been a fan of his since Less Than Zero in 1987. When he did Chaplin in 1992, I felt sure he would win the Academy Award for Best Actor. Not only because his performance as Charlie Chaplin was stellar, but also because he’d made a comeback (the first in many to come) from drugs and alcohol. Well, his performances have grown even better over the years and because of his marriage to Susan Levin in 2005, he has able to shake his addictions and had a number of Box Office successes, namely Iron Man and Iron Man 2, not to mention Sherlock Holmes. Anyway, I was certainly curious to see what he would bring to the character of Holmes and how Jude Law would shape his characterization of Dr. John Watson. Add to that, the addition of Rachel McAdams as Irene Adler, and I knew nothing would be able to stop me from seeing this movie, except for death. I’ve been a fan of Rachel McAdams since The Notebook and then The Time Traveler’s Wife, and found myself unusually anxious to see how she would portray a professional thief and love interest of Sherlock Holmes.

The movie begins with Holmes and Watson stopping the murder of a helpless female victim during a satanic ritual being performed by Lord Blackwood (think of late black magician, Aleister Crowley, from the late Nineteen Hundreds to the early part of the 20th Century). Blackwood is arrested and sentenced to hang for the murders of five other women. Thing is once Blackwood is executed he quickly rises from the grave and starts to create havoc as he attempts to take over the British Government and then the world. While this is going on, Holmes and Watson are having a falling out because Watson forthcoming marriage to the lovely Mary Morstan and the fact that he’s moving out from Baker Street. Holmes doesn’t want to lose his friend and companion and crime-solving partner. Watson, for his part, is still drawn to the adrenaline rush of working with Holmes. After all, he’s an ex-military soldier, a man of action, and somewhat of a gambler. Enter Irene Adler, a woman Holmes has loved for a number of years. She’s a professional thief and has bested Holmes more than once. She also happens to be working for Professor Moriarty.

As Holmes, Watson, and Adler put the pieces of the puzzle together in regards to Lord Blackwood, the aristocratic black magician is busy killing people and setting up his plans for total rule. Both Holmes and Watson have their work cut out for them as they try to stay alive long enough to stop Blackwood.

There are many things I enjoyed about this movie besides the magnificent performances by the great cast and the perfect direction of Guy Ritchie. I’m a big fan of 19th Century England and particularly London. I loved the portrayal of London during the late Eighteen Hundreds. Even knowing that much of the scenery and locations were done with blue screen and CGI effects, it still looked like the London of Sherlock Holmes to me and enabled me to get lost in the story. I also enjoyed the incorporation of the magical society of the Four Orders into the storyline. During the late Eighteen Hundreds in England, the actual magical society that many aristocrats belonged to was the Order of The Golden Dawn, of which Aleister Crowley was a member for a short period of time. I enjoyed the way Holmes faced off against the supernatural elements and used his mind to break down each incident to its human ingredients. Another factor that won me over was the fighting techniques Holmes used throughout the movie based on the martial art of Baritsu. I was a martial artist for a number of years, but had never heard of Baritsu and was intrigued by it.

Anyway, everything seemed to work for me in the movie. I know some critics feel that Rachel McAdams was given much to do in her role as Irene Adler, but I disagree. The movie was really about Holmes and Watson, and I thought she performed her part in exactly the way the script called for. In many ways she was the third wheel, but an attractive and very tough third wheel.

The DVD has very little as far as extras go on it. There’s a sixteen-minute behind-the-scenes documentary called, Sherlock Holmes: Reinvented. That’s fun to watch, but there is no commentary on the film, which unusual for a movie of this caliber, nor are there any featurettes about the special effects, the locations, the stunts, etc. Still, I really had a lot of fun with the movie and look forward to the sequel that’s coming out on December 16th, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. If you’re a Sherlock Holmes’ fan, you might want to buy this film on DVD. Of course, there’s also the possibility that a two-disc set might be in the works in time for the December release of the new movie.