Sherlock Holmes


By Julia Szabo

Sherlock Holmes

Warner Bros., 2009, 128 minutes

To view the trailer, go here

Director Guy Ritchie totally reinvents Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's fictitious Baker Street sleuth, stripping the legendary detective of his fuddy-duddy tweed deerstalker hat and Inverness cape coat, and making his logical, deductive reasoning downright sexy. This Sherlock does smoke a pipe, but he's nothing like the ho-hum Holmes of those 1930s and 1940s-era movies starring Basil Rathbone; rather, he's a spiritual ancestor of Bond, James Bond. In canine terms, he's still a persistent Bloodhound - only now, he's an inspector hound on steroids.

As embodied by Robert Downey Jr., Holmes is equal parts Rollin Hand, master of disguise on TV's classic "Mission Impossible," and Oscar Madison, "The Odd Couple" slob. More than an amateur detective, he's a superhero sleuth who helps out his city's police force, a Brit Bruce Wayne moving at Bat speed through a Victorian London that quite deliberately resembles Gotham City. He's quite well-versed in martial arts, and his funny street smarts will remind you of a different Downey persona, Iron Man. Just to make sure you don't confuse this Holmes with his predecessor, the phrase "Elementary, my dear Watson" has been deleted from his vocabulary altogether.

But make no mistake: Dr. Watson (Jude Law) is still Holmes's ever-present partner in problem-solving; Holmes's nemesis, Lord Blackwood, disparages Holmes' sidekick by sarcastically calling him a "loyal dog." Holmes and Watson happen to co-own a Bulldog named Gladstone. Holmes isn't one to let sleeping dogs lie, but Gladstone does spend most of the movie dozing; we don't want to spoil the running joke, so we won't say why he's so often out cold (don't worry, the dog turns out fine in the end). The only other dog action is a quick glimpse of police dogs. No appearance by the Hound of the Baskervilles - yet - but give it time; we suspect this reincarnated Sherlock Holmes is merely the precursor to a film franchise, and anticipate many enjoyable sequels to come.
 

Presence of dogs:  reel

Respect for dogs:  reelreelreelreel

Canine star quality:  reelreelreelreel

Family friendly:  reelreel

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