Sherlock Holmes

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Year:	2009
Country of origin:	USA / Germany / UK
Director:	Guy Ritchie
Genre:	Sleuthing revamp
Starring:	Robert Downey Jr, Jude Law, Rachel McAdams, Mark Strong
Rating:	4/5
IMDB link:	http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0988045/
Tagline:	Nothing Escapes Him
Favourite line:	“In another life, Mr. Holmes, you would have made a excellent criminal.”

Guy Ritchie's ultra-modern take on the Victorian sleuthster.

The plot:
Holmes and Watson must thwart a sinister figure who seems possessed of supernatural powers. Along the way, they discover that he intends to use those very powers to eradicate huge swathes of politicians, and lead the British Empire onwards to a worldwide domination that will last for all eternity.....

You'll note the brevity of the plot synopsis in this instance.
Two reasons.
One, I didn't really follow it all the way through.
Two, it doesn't make the blindest bit of difference.
Like the best of the Bond movies, you;'ll find yourself an hour in thinking 'what the hell is going on?' before realising it is completely unimportant, the only thing that matters is the on screen action, and the chemistry between the lead characters. Wasting effort and energy on trying to piece together whether any of it actually makes any sense is an act of pure folly.
Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law genuinely crackle with energy when on screen together, the knockabout banter and humorous irritation mightily entertaining. True, a lot of the time you can't actually tell what Downey Jr. is saying but, again, it doh marra.
The momentum carries it.
At plus two hours in length, there's always the worry, pre-viewing, that tedium will set in at the ninety minute mark - no movie actually needs to be longer than this – but not a bit of it in this case, the last quarter barrelling along relentlessly so that when the end does actually arrive, it's a little bit of a surprise.
No more of a surprise, though, than the revelation that Guy Ritchie seems to have got his career well and truly back on track with this and last year's follow up, receiving praise from both 'proper' critics and the public alike. Though I'd hate this franchise.
Turns out, I like it rather a lot.