Wow! Divorcing Madonna has had a salutary effect on Guy Richie’s film-making. This steam-punk version of the famous detective has Holmes and Watson as a pair of sexually charged crime-fighters. Clever camera angles, jump cuts, forward-reverse and slow-motion scenes help build dramatic tension and accelerate the pace but the deus in machina is seamless and slick, never self-consciously arty.
The industrial revolution settings bring to life the “dark satanic mills” as awesome scenes for high-octane action, until the machinery and machinations therein become a character themselves. For the first film in years, Jude Law seems awake and fully engaged by his role as Watson, while Robert Downey junior is deranged and disheveled – yet physically, pumped and ripped to perfection – claiming the brilliant yet tormented Holmes as his character by right of brilliant acting. While I’m hanging out for the sequel, I’ll curb my cravings by seeing this one again and again.
Can;t wait to see it again – and totally forgive him for Swept Away. Hope that clunker was taken into account in the divorce settlement. She owes Guy more than one for that.
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