Dear faithful readers,

on my first ever trip to London at the ripe old age of 17 I was in McDonalds with my friends (I know but for us it was a novelty at the time) and we took out a big map of tube in London. For one of the first stops on our whistle stop tour I circled Baker Street. Yes that’s how horribly geeky I am. And while I do not consider myself a die hard Holmesian I have read all of Arthur Conan Doyle’s Holmes stories many times over since I was a little girl and I do consider myself a Holmes enthusiast.

I put off watching Guy Ritchie’s version of Sherlock Holmes ever since it was released really because well… it was hyped up so much and with it being this big Hollywood production I thought it couldn’t be good. Besides the only screen version of Holmes I ever saw was the one with Jeremy Brett and in my mind he embodied Sherlock Holmes so perfectly how could Robert Downey Jr. even compete? I didn’t want my favorite childhood/teen stories ruined on the big screen.

My dear readers I was in for quite a shock. Visually from the first second there is no mistaking it for anything else then a Guy Ritchie movie – I love how he uses browns, greys and blues to give you this perception of grittiness that was London at the time (and if you have seen Snatch and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels you will know what color palette I’m talking about). And I absolutely loved the visuals of London – that city can be tiring as hell for a tourist but it never fails to take my breath away.
(On a side-note and if you don’t mind a) being a tourist and b) paying an exorbitant amount of money for the ticket at Madame Tussauds in London they have quite a cool part of the exhibition with a reenactment of London of that time – quite spooky, quite cheesy but quite fun).

Now for the Holmes himself – the only version I knew was Jeremy Brett’s – contemplative Holmes, lost in the haze of smoke (and sometimes drugs) who sprung to life when a new case presented itself. Robert Downey Jr. knocked my socks off by interpreting Holmes as this physical, wiry, bushy haired, hard (and quite sexy) super sleuth. I said it once and I’ll say it again – very few actors can compete with Downey Jr. on top of his game (and for the record I cannot even begin to compare Jeremy Brett and Robert Downey Jr since both interpretations were so different). And I loved how Guy Ritchie used his signature slowmo shots to give us the visual version of Holmes’ thought process. As for Jude Law’s portrayal of Watson – well I’d be lying if I said I hated him. He was quite, quite good and him and Downey Jr. played really well off each other.

I do have to mention the script writers – Michael Robert Johnson, Anthony Peckham and Simon Kinberg – who did create a wonderful script. I would imagine it would be a daunting task to adapt Arthur Conan Doyle for screen because a) it has been done before and done quite well too and b) Holmes stories do have a great legion of fans who have high expectations of any and all screen adaptations. But I think the writers did a great job – the story is fast paced, interesting and I loved, loved, loved the Holmes – Watson dialogues.

Last but definitely not least I have to mentioned the music – Hans Zimmer did the original score and I think it complimented the movie beautifully.

All in all it was quite a treat and a pleasant surprise. Having said all of the above – I would still love to see the Holmes version with my favorite duo – Hugh Laurie as Holmes and Stephen Fry as Moriarty

So tell me dear readers and especially any Holmes fans – did you see the movie and what did you think? Di you love it or hate it? Do sound off in the comments below.