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Sherlock Holmes is unarguably the greatest fictional detective of all times. The popularity of the character was such that his death resulted in a huge public outcry and Sir Doyle was forced to bring him back to life. Fans visited 221B Baker Street (The address of Holmes) to see the great sleuth only to be disappointed upon learning that he was a fictional character. Over the years, his aura has not diminished one bit with Holmes still being ranked as the most popular fictional detective ahead of all others.

Disclaimer: I do have a very soft corner for the series. “The Complete Collection of Sherlock Holmes” was my introduction to English literature around 15 years ago and I was hooked from day zero. Over the years, I have read Sherlock Holmes as many times as I have seen the Matrix i.e. dozens of times. I even visited 221B Baker Street in London (which is Sherlock Holmes museum now) just to get a pic of the iconic address. As an icon, Sherlock Holmes is equal to Batman for me.

Hence, Sherlock Holmes was a movie I was looking forward to in 2010. With Robert Downey Jr playing Holmes and Guy Ritchie at the helm, it was going to be legendary.

Alas, it does not go according to the plan.Neither does it fr Sherlock Holmes in the movie, something that almost never happens in the books. A very physical Sherlock Holmes (RDJ) and Dr Watson (Jude Law) are chasing after Lord Blackwood, a practitioner of dark arts with magical, supernatural powers. Also, Dr Watson is getting engaged leading to strained relations between him and Holmes as Dr Watson will be moving out once he gets married. Holmes gets unexpected assistance from Irene Adler (a delectable Rachel McAdams) who has a vested interest in stopping Lord Blackwood. Lord Blackwood wants world domination,Holmes & Watson obviously want to stop him and Irene Adler appears to want to stop him.

The movie understandably and thankfully steers clear of any original source material but takes too many liberties with the original characters of Sir Doyle. Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes is cranky, overtly funny, jealous, lover boy, drunk and too prone to making mistakes.  Doyle’s Holmes is none of these.

RDJ excels as Sherlock Holmes. He is handicapped by the story and direction which require him to be quite different from the books. There are a few welcome additions like the passion he brings to the role, the raw edge but there are too many changes that go against the character of Holmes. The deductions are to the point, delivered with a casual tone and quite engrossing. The wit is there, most notably in his exchanges with Lestrade, the highlight being the dialogue:

Lestrade: In another life, you would have made an excellent criminal

Holmes: And you an excellent policeman

Jude Law makes for an acceptable Watson as the best friend of Holmes. Watson in the book is like a student in awe of the master while the movie has Watson as an active sidekick saving Holmes on more than one occasion. Holmes-Watson team in the movie actually clicks and it is fun at times to see them bicker.

Mark Strong makes a creepy, brooding, charismatic Lord Blackwood and a worthy adversary to Holmes. He pulls out many rabbits from his hat but Holmes deductive logic makes them look like child’s play at the end of it.

Rachel McAdams as Irene Adler provides a feminine edge to the movie. Irene Adler is the only woman to have beaten Holmes, the sole reason behind Holmes respect for the fairer sex and referred always by Holmes as “The Woman”. The movie reduces her to Holmes love interest with an ulterior motive to her actions in helping Holmes.

But the biggest blasphemy is reserved for Professor Moriarty.

Professor Moriarty is to Sherlock what The Joker is to Batman. Moriarty is equal to Holmes in every aspect but a darker version of Holmes.The movie depiction of Moriarty is totally, utterly against the book. Holmes describes Moriarty in “The Final Problem” as- “He is the Napoleon of crime, Watson. He is the organizer of half that is evil and of nearly all that is undetected in this great city. He is a genius, a philosopher, an abstract thinker. He has a brain of the first order. He sits motionless, like a spider in the centre of its web, but that web has a thousand radiations, and he knows well every quiver of each of them. He does little himself. He only plans. But his agents are numerous and splendidly organized. The agent may be caught. In that case money is found for his bail or his detence. But the central power which uses the agent is never caught — never so much as suspected.”

Moriarty in the movie is worse than Moriarty in “League of Extraordinary Gentlemen”. That’s about as worse as it can get. Moriarty has less than 15 minutes of screen time but it is enough to defame the greatest adversary of Holmes.

To put it in a nutshell, an actor playing Sherlock Holmes winning Golden Globe for “Best Actor in a Motion Picture-Musical or Comedy” says it all. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle would be doing cartwheels in his grave.

Sherlock Holmes does have its minor plus points. The costumes suit the era. London of late 19th century and early 20th century is magnificent with dark colors and a criminal atmosphere. The movie is gripping in parts especially when RDJ is rattling off the logic behind his deductions. The cinematography is top notch and end makes one look forward to the sequel.

Sherlock Holmes is a brilliant movie in its own right and worth watching.  Treat it as Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes and not as Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes. There are many pros and the cons will be visible to Sherlock Holmes purists only. The appeal of the movie to die-hard Sherlock Holmes fans is limited because of the changes to the characters in the name of “artistic liberty”. One movie into the series and I already want a series reboot (That’s fashionable right now with Spidey & Superman getting rebooted).  Chris Nolan directing RDJ as Sherlock Holmes seems much more appealing. But then, world would be a better place if all the movies were directed by Chris Nolan.