[eclein]

Anybody see it? Is it worth a rental?

[Bigfish]

Anybody see it? Is it worth a rental?

Please check out the reviews written when the movie was released in December, here:

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=75584.0

[JRace]

 :)Thumbs up:
The sound effect mixing really works the surround sound!

 :(Thumbs down:
Robert Downey Jr's terrible accent
Guy Ritchie (and I loved his early stuff)
Convoluded story-line
too long

[BobM]

Definitely the dislogue was hard to follow - bad accents, mumbled words, fast speaking, esoteric references/wisecracks. That killed it a bit for me.

[cujobob]

Entertaining, but flawed.

[satfrat]

Thumbs down,,,, I simply didn't like it. Suppose the action scenes would make renting it worth it but the story line has more holes in it than swiss cheese. Then again I did watch this movie directly after Avatar so it never stood much of a chance anyways. 
 
Cheers,
Robin

[wushuliu]

I grew up on the Jeremy Brett WGBH Sherlock Holmes from the 80's, so I had a lot of bias going into the theater. It's definitely worth a rental. Downey and Law are very good. Script is so-so.

Hollywood has gotten very good at making lousy movies more palatable with special effects, even with stuff like period pieces, cause everything just seems so real...

[Woodsea]

Just see it, as you can tell from the above responses, the general consensus is a liking of it.  But, flawed in some biased way.  Definitely  worth a watch.  I cant wait until the sequel.

[spectralman]

My son (13 y.o.) and I saw it in the theater.  We both loved it.  I'll be buying it shortly.

Bill

[jimdgoulding]

:)Thumbs up:
The sound effect mixing really works the surround sound!

 :(Thumbs down:
Robert Downey Jr's terrible accent
Guy Ritchie (and I loved his early stuff)
Convoluded story-line
too long

I haven't seen it but anticipated it this way.  Like I want to see Robert Downey Jr, again, strutin around with rock star hats.  Or, Sherlock Holmes gettin physical on some bad guy's hiney.  This isn't the Guy Ritchie I'm used to.  I suspect this was just a shameless op for everybody to earn. 

[Bigfish]

My wife brought this one home from BB this past weekend.  We orginally saw it on the big screen the day it was released and, well, I thought it was okay.  I popped the DVD into the player and I honestly could not get through the movie a second time.  This is unusual for me as I watch a lot of movies multiple times.  I have not gone back to look at my original rating of the movie but after trying to watch it a second time I would have to give it 2 stars or less.

Ken

[martyo]

I have not gone back to look at my original rating of the movie but after trying to watch it a second time I would have to give it 2 stars or less.

Agreed, "or less".

[dhwilkin]

Worth a rental, but not a purchase.

[jqp]

Saw Sherlock Holmes, Rental version Blu-Ray from Blockbuster, last night. I say Rental version because there seemed to be absolutely no extras on the Blu-Ray disk! This seems to be against everything that Blue-Ray is supposed to be    After a little research I read that there are plenty of extras on the Retail Blu-Ray - thanks BlockBuster. I will be renting the retail version which was out on rental at my favorite shop.

The Blue-Ray PQ was excellent if you like the addition of plenty of CGI in the film to give it some modern production values - not as in Avatar, but more in the way of colorization and surrealistic visual effects. London is portrayed with a grey/dirty, Jack-the-Ripper/Dickensian sensibility, but also with a Wild,Wild West/steampunk flavor, all aided by the cinematography/post production effects.

I am not very familiar with the Basil Rathbone movies, nor much with the Conan Doyle books, so I don't have too much of a pre-conceived idea as to what Holmes and Watson should be.

You will recognize the Guy Ritchie style in the fight and action scenes. The scene with the copper-clad ship was impressive.

Holmes is portrayed as a kind of manic-depressive eccentric genius, not sure how much comes from Robert Downey himself and how much from the script. He loves to use his mental powers in the pursuit of winnings in the no-rules boxing in the London underground. He is severly, nay comically, depressed without a case to solve, so he spends these times doing experiments as if he were a member of the Royal Society. It is interesting to see the film's take on how Holmes' mind works - one scene with Watson and his fiance gives some Guy Ritchie effects as to what it is like to be Holmes.

Having been to London for a few days in 2009, it was a treat to see several sights including the Tower Bridge when it was under construction (CGI of course). Also having read the 3000 page Neal Stephenson series The Baroque Cycle, and also London Burns!, I enjoyed the different scenes of London.

I give it a thumbs up. This is a kind of comic book, with Holmes as a super hero.To true Conan Doyle fans it may be too dumbed down or too unfaithful to the books to be enjoyed. Downey is good and so is Jude Law as Watson. The evil nemesis is truly evil, and seems to be more than a match for our heroes.

[Rob Babcock]

With copious reservations, I'll give it a 3.5 out of 5.  Yes, the plot is nonsensical and appears to have been created as a prequel to the "real" stories to come.  Downey's accent wasn't great, but then again it wasn't Kevin Costner (ala Robin Hood) bad, either.  They were wise not to show "M", both to preserve the surprise and to keep their options open if the mystery-voice-over guy isn't available in two years (or am I being too cynical? ).

The bad:  Why does Sherlock Holmes wind up an action movie?  And why all the CGI?  Only two things come to mind.  One, Hollywood thinks the American moviegoer is to ADD to watch a real movie driven by crisp acting and good writing.  Or, worse, they're right and we really won't watch a movie without all the sizzle.

The good:  Downey, as always, and a great turn by the sometimes-bland Jude Law.  He and Downey really crackled- they have a great chemistry.  The supporting cast was pretty decent, and I liked the "steampunk"/Gotham-by-Gaslight feel of the flim.  Initially I wasn't impressed but it won me over as the film progresses.  I think I honestly look forward to a sequel.

[joschmo]

Definitely the dislogue was hard to follow - bad accents, mumbled words, fast speaking, esoteric references/wisecracks. That killed it a bit for me.

You begin to pick up more in the second viewing

[django11]

The bad:  Why does Sherlock Holmes wind up an action movie?  And why all the CGI?  Only two things come to mind.  One, Hollywood thinks the American moviegoer is to ADD to watch a real movie driven by crisp acting and good writing.  Or, worse, they're right and we really won't watch a movie without all the sizzle.

It didn't hold my attention even with the cgi.  I only watched about half and bailed...