Sherlock Holmes

A last minute change made us see Sherlock Holmes instead of Up in the Air. I'd been hesitant because of the association of Guy Ritchie and Jude Law, two people I'm not normally convinced by. Jude Law was reasonable enough, but not brilliant, and the direction was merely following a style that's become popular, rather than doing something original (preview of fight-scenes seemingly stolen from The Last Samurai). It could be said that Robert Downey Jr was just replaying his performance from Iron Man, but all of this is too easy, and I think slightly unfair. I haven't read enough Conan Doyle to be able to say whether they do justice to the text, or whether they were trying to, but what is clear is that they're having fun with the characters, and this is infectious. There's a great score by Hans Zimmer, a fun sense of humour, some good action sequences, and intriguing plot turns. Overall, the story was predictable enough (although perhaps unfairly Conan Doyle was the first to write such stories), and the comic book style look of the film slightly annoying. I left the cinema slightly perturbed by the ending, I think it needed a bit more definition, although I believe they have already agreed on a sequel.