‘Sherlock Holmes’ is a dandy action flick

Sherlock Holmes and Watson – the most handsomely dressed detectives ever.

Besides the basic pop cultural idioms and deer stalker caps, the extent of my knowledge about Sherlock Holmes does not go beyond the video game I used to play on Sega Genesis.

Guy Ritchie’s take on the famous uber-smart detective is an attempt to make the time-honored franchise hip and happening. With Robert Downey Jr. stepping into the role of the title character and Jude Law as his loyal sidekick Dr. Watson he succeeds – to a certain extent.

With Ritchie’s gritty take on Mr. Holmes, he takes the character created by Arthur Conan Doyle and pits them against Lord Blackwood (Mark Strong) creepy cult leader of a Knights of Templar-ish sect who not only wants to take over Britain, but is in need of some dental work.

Much like Daniel Craig breathed new life into James Bond, Downey, true to Ritchie form, pumps Sherlock Holmes full of eccentricity and a blimey edge. He’s disheveled, he’s unhygienic, he can beat the living shit out of someone, he’s ADHD and, of course, he’s a genius. His clothing is rumpled and dirtied – but he still manages to make it work. The only difference is that there doesn’t seem to be an inkling of the classic Holmes many people are familiar with. Whether or not that is a good thing is probably up to die-hard, pipe smoking Holmes aficionados.

Jude Law is one dapper mofo when it comes to portraying Watson. His style is the polar opposite of Holmes. Anyone who can use his clothes to kick some major ass (i.e. using a hat as a projectile weapon and a coat to restrain your opponent) is the ultimate dandy. Plus, after some romper stomper fisticuffs, he is left uncreased and still looking debonair and chic. Even his porn star mustache looks handsome. And, like his counterpart, he is brilliant when it comes to being Holmes’s right-hand gumshoe. I aim to be like him.

Law and Downey are the perfect pair. They are like the 19th century Starsky and Hutch; or Cagney and Lacey – well maybe not the latter, but their onscreen relationship proves that bromances existed long before bromantic comedies. This all eclipses Rachel McAdams’s role in the whole ordeal. As the world-class thief, Adler, she does her job as the romantic interest who is the only one ever to outwit Holmes, but other than that, she’s just a pretty face that has a sometimes accent throughout the film. Hopefully, she’ll be sculpted into a more interesting role in the sequel – and based on the ending, there will be a sequel.

As a stand-alone action film, the movie is enriched with Ritchie’s point of view – but it’s fitted for a commercial audience. The story, action and character interaction is paced with the aggressive charm that only he can execute. It echoes his past work like Lock, Stock Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch, but it doesn’t have as much of the sweaty cockney attitude. Instead, it’s as appropriate as a bowler tipped to the side with a mean left hook. Think Alexander Delarge except more sophisticated. Grade: B