When evil criminal Lord Henry Blackwood is finally caught and executed, all of England rests peacefully. That is, until he comes back from the dead to terrorize England all over again. This time, it is up to detective Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) and his partner Dr. John Watson (Jude Law) to uncover the mystery surrounding Blackwood’s supposed resurrection and to apprehend the wanted criminal.
Sherlock Holmes is a masterful mystery, full of wit, humor, and charm, and no small amount of action and character. Robert Downey Jr. shines as the classic character, portraying the genius as impressively cunning and witty, and yet socially awkward and a rather bad friend at times to Dr. Watson. He balances his extreme intelligence and deductive skills with a rather oblivious social character who many times, though he can see how a fight will go before it happens, can’t see how his words and actions will affect his relationships.
This is where Watson is such a good partner. An intellectual lesser to Holmes, Watson possesses the relational ability Holmes lacks. While he loves the adventure that traveling with Holmes brings, Watson really just wants to settle down and marry his fiance Mary. However, this marriage will take Watson away from Holmes, something Holmes doesn’t want, which leads to a rather awkward love triangle that persists throughout the movie. Thankfully, this tension causes both characters to grow.
Sherlock Holmes works as a perfect mystery, as Holmes deduces sometimes absurd conclusions from limited data throughout his pursuit of Blackwood. At the same time, Sherlock Holmes offers enough actions and twists to keep audiences engaged throughout. However, younger audiences may not be able to follow the entirety of the intricate plot and might not enjoy Sherlock Holmes as much as other action movies. For older audiences, Sherlock Holmes is likely Downey Jr.’s best performance outside of Iron Man, and one of the best mystery movies of the 2000’s.
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