Sherlock Holmes is a 2009 British-American action mystery film based on the character of the same name created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The film was directed by Guy Ritchie and produced by Joel Silver, Lionel Wigram, Susan Downey and Dan Lin. The screenplay by Michael Robert Johnson, Anthony Peckham and Simon Kinberg was developed from a story by Lionel Wigram and Michael Robert Johnson. Robert Downey, Jr. and Jude Law portray Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson respectively. In the film, Holmes and his companion Watson, with aid from former adversary Irene Adler, investigate a series of murders connected to occult rituals. Mark Strong plays the villain Lord Blackwood, who has somehow returned after his execution with a plot to take over the British Empire using an arsenal of dark arts and new technologies.

The film went on general release in the United States on 25 December 2009, and on 26 December 2009 in the UK, Ireland, and the Pacific, and was met with a moderately positive critical reaction.^[3] The film was nominated for two Academy Awards, Best Original Score and Best Art Direction, which it lost to Up and Avatar, respectively.

A sequel, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, was released on 16 December 2011.

Plot

In 1891, London detective Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey, Jr.) and his partner and flatmate Dr. John Watson (Jude Law) race to prevent the ritual murder of a woman by Lord Blackwood (Mark Strong), who has killed five other young women similarly. They stop the murder before Inspector Lestrade (Eddie Marsan) and the police arrive to arrest Blackwood.

Three months later, Holmes' eccentric behavior again annoys Watson. While he enjoys their adventures together, Watson looks forward to marrying Mary Morstan (Kelly Reilly) and leaving 221B Baker Street. Meanwhile, Blackwood has been sentenced to death and requests to see Holmes in prison, where he warns of three more unstoppable deaths that will cause great changes to the world. Blackwood is subsequently hanged and pronounced dead by Watson. Three days later, Holmes is visited by Irene Adler (Rachel McAdams), a professional thief and his former adversary, who asks him to find a missing man named Luke Reordan. After her departure, Holmes follows her as she meets with her secret employer, hidden in the shadows of a carriage. The concealed man states that Reordan is the key to Blackwood's plans. Holmes only learns that the man is a professor and that he intimidates Adler.

Blackwood's tomb is destroyed from the inside out, Reordan is found dead inside the coffin, and sightings of a living Blackwood, which has left a gravedigger in shock, cause public panic. Following a series of clues from the body, Holmes and Watson find Reordan's home and discover experiments attempting to merge science with magic. After they survive a battle with Blackwood's men, Holmes is taken to the Temple of the Four Orders, a secret magical organization. The leaders – Lord Chief Justice Sir Thomas Rotheram (James Fox), U.S. Ambassador Standish (William Hope), and Home Secretary Lord Coward (Hans Matheson) – ask Holmes to stop Blackwood, a former member of the society and, as Holmes deduces from physical similarities, Sir Thomas' son. Sir Thomas and Standish are later killed through apparently supernatural means by Blackwood, allowing him to control the Order. He plans to overthrow the British government, then conquer the United States and the world. He lures Holmes to a warehouse where he finds Adler, chained to a hook, gagged, and heading towards a bandsaw, though he saves her in time. However Watson is injured in a series of explosions set up by Blackwood. Lord Coward, secretly working with Blackwood, issues an arrest warrant for Holmes.

Holmes goes into hiding and studies Blackwood's rituals, concluding that the next target is Parliament. Holmes tricks Coward into revealing that the plan is to kill its members. He, Adler and Watson discover a machine below the Palace of Westminster, based on Reordan's experiments, designed to release cyanide gas into the Parliament chambers, killing everyone but Blackwood and his supporters, to whom Blackwood slipped the antidote. Blackwood walks into Parliament and announces that soon all but his supporters will die. As Holmes and Watson battle Blackwood's men, Adler removes the cyanide containers from the machine and flees, pursued by Holmes. Blackwood and Coward realize their plan has failed; Coward is captured but Blackwood escapes. Holmes confronts Adler on top of the incomplete Tower Bridge, but is interrupted by Blackwood. Holmes tricks him into becoming entangled in the ropes and chains hanging over the Thames, while Holmes explains the technical trickery behind Blackwood's supposed magic. As they battle, Blackwood, with a noose of chains around his neck, falls from the bridge and is hanged.

Adler explains that her employer is Professor Moriarty, warning that Moriarty is as intelligent as Holmes but far more devious. As Watson moves out of 221B, the police report to him and Holmes that a dead officer was found near Blackwood's device. Moriarty used the confrontations with Adler and Blackwood as a diversion while he took a key component, based on the new science of radio, from the machine. Holmes looks forward to the new case and new adversary.

Cast

• Robert Downey, Jr. as Sherlock Holmes: A bohemian scientist and eccentric detective-for-hire who becomes a wanted fugitive in his hunt for Lord Blackwood, while constantly being followed by the presence of Professor Moriarty. Downey was visiting Joel Silver's offices with his wife, producer Susan Downey, when he learned about the project.^[4] Ritchie initially felt Downey was too old for the role because he wanted the film to show a younger Holmes on a learning curve like Batman Begins.^[5] Ritchie decided to take a chance on casting him in the role, and Downey told the BBC that "I think me and Guy are well-suited to working together. The more I look into the books, the more fantastic it becomes. Holmes is such a weirdo".^[6] Downey also revealed what his wife had to say: "that when you read the description of the guy  — quirky and kind of nuts — it could be a description of me".^[7] Downey intended to focus more on Holmes' patriotic side and his bohemianism, and felt that his work on Chaplin has prepared him for an English accent.^[8] Ritchie feels his accent is "flawless".^[9] Both Downey and Ritchie are martial arts enthusiasts, and have been inspired by the Baritsu mentioned in the 1901 story The Adventure of the Empty House.^[10] Downey lost weight for the part, because during a chat he had with Chris Martin, Martin recommended that Holmes look "gaunt" and "skinny".^[11][12]
• Jude Law as Dr. John Watson: Holmes' companion and close friend, who is also a surgeon and a veteran of the Second Afghan War. Law's Watson is more like the original character, who was more of a colleague, rather than the bumbling fool that actor Nigel Bruce popularised in the 1930s–40s films.^[13] Law previously appeared in the Granada Television series The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, in an episode based on The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place. Being a Holmes fan, Law recognised there was material unexplored in other adaptations and was intrigued by Downey's casting; Law was cast because he had a positive meeting with Downey and concurred the film would have to explore Holmes and Watson's friendship. Downey believed by emphasizing Watson's qualities as a former soldier, a doctor, a womaniser and a gambler, it would make for a more interesting foil for Holmes.^[14] Law made a notebook of phrases from the stories to improvise into his dialogue.^[15] Ritchie originally envisioned Russell Crowe in the role.^[16]
• Mark Strong as Lord Blackwood: The main antagonist. An aristocratic serial killer dabbling in the occult to compel others to do his bidding. Having returned after his execution, Blackwood unravels plans to control the British Empire. He is given many supernatural elements to his character, and his presence is usually accompanied by a menacing crow. Strong worked with director Ritchie for the third time and said he appreciates the director's lack of ego and how easy he is to work with.^[17][18]
• Rachel McAdams as Irene Adler, an American femme fatale from New Jersey who outwitted Holmes twice, as chronicled in Doyle's story A Scandal in Bohemia.^[13] In the film, Adler is no longer married to Godfrey Norton and needs Holmes' help for the case.^[14] Downey convinced Ritchie to cast McAdams, arguing she would not look too young to be his love interest.^[19]
• Kelly Reilly as Mary Morstan, who Watson wishes to marry, causing a conflict with Holmes.^[7]
• Eddie Marsan as Inspector Lestrade, an investigator from Scotland Yard who hires Holmes to look into the murders. Unlike in the stories, Lestrade is not portrayed as a bumbling inspector, but is shown to be a rather competent officer (though he is relatively fed up with Holmes).^[20]
• Hans Matheson as Lord Coward, the Home Secretary, who is Blackwood's right-hand man, who assisted Blackwood in all his murders and was the only one of his allies aware of Blackwood's usage of technology to feign magical powers.
• Geraldine James as Mrs. Hudson, Sherlock Holmes' landlady. This is James' second Holmes film. She had also portrayed Dr. Mortimer's wife in the 2002 adaptation of The Hound of the Baskervilles.
• James Fox as Sir Thomas Rotheram, father of Lord Blackwood and Head of the Four Orders.
• Robert Maillet as Dredger, a French-speaking henchman working for Blackwood.^[21]
• William Hope as American Ambassador John Standish

Director Guy Ritchie declined to say who voiced the character of Professor Moriarty. Rumors suggested that the part was voiced by Brad Pitt, who had been reported to have expressed strong interest in the sequel.^[22] Actor Ed Tolputt is credited as "Anonymous Man"^[23] although it is not clear if this refers to Moriarty.^[24]

Development

Producer Lionel Wigram remarked that for around ten years, he had been thinking of new ways to depict Sherlock Holmes. "I realized the images I was seeing in my head [when reading the stories] were different to the images I'd seen in previous films." He imagined "a much more modern, more bohemian character, who dresses more like an artist or a poet", namely Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. After leaving his position as executive for Warner Bros. in 2006,^[5] Wigram sought a larger scope to the story so it could attract a large audience, and amalgamated various Holmes stories to flesh it out further.^[7] Lord Blackwood's character was developed as a nod to Victorian interests in spiritualism and the later influence of Aleister Crowley.^[25] The producer felt he was "almost clever" pitting Holmes, who has an almost supernatural ability to solve crimes, against a supposedly supernatural villain. The plot point, moreover, nods to the Holmesian tale of The Hound of the Baskervilles, where a string of seemingly supernatural events is finally explained through intuitive reasoning and scientific savvy. Wigram wrote and John Watkiss drew a 25-page comic book about Holmes in place of a spec script.^[25] Professor Moriarty was included in the script to set up the sequels.^[26]

In March 2007, Warner Bros. chose to produce, seeing similarities in the concept with Batman Begins. Arthur Conan Doyle's estate had some involvement in sorting out legal issues, although the stories are in the public domain in the United States.^{[citation needed]} Neil Marshall was set to direct,^[27] but Guy Ritchie signed on to direct in June 2008.^[28] When a child at boarding school, Ritchie and other pupils listened to the Holmes stories through dormitory loudspeakers. "Holmes used to talk me to sleep every night when I was seven years old," he said.^[29] Therefore, his image of Holmes differed from the films. He wanted to make his film more "authentic" to Doyle,^[8] explaining, "There's quite a lot of intense action sequences in the stories, [and] sometimes that hasn't been reflected in the movies."^[30] Holmes' "brilliance will percolate into the action", and the film will show that his "intellect was as much of a curse as it was a blessing".^[9] Ritchie sought to make Sherlock Holmes a "very contemporary film as far as the tone and texture", because it has been "a relatively long time since there's been a film version that people embraced".^[30]

Production

Filming began in October 2008.^[31] The crew shot at Freemasons' Hall and St Paul's Cathedral.^[26][32] Filming was done in Manchester's Northern Quarter, while the Town Hall was used for a fight scene (which required smashing stained glass windows).^[33] They shot the opening scene for three days at St Bartholomew-the-Great church in London,^[25] and shot on the river Thames at Wapping for a scene involving a steamboat on 7 November.^[34] Filming continued at Stanley Dock and Clarence Dock in Liverpool.^[35] Street scenes were filmed in cobbled alleyways in Chatham and Manchester. Brompton Cemetery in London was used for a key scene, and the palatial 19th-century interior of the Reform Club stood in for the Café Royal. Scenes from the interior of 221B Baker Street were shot on a sound stage at Leavesden Studios.^[32]

In late November 2008, actor Robert Maillet, who played Dredger, was filming a fight scene at Chatham Dockyard in Kent, and accidentally punched Robert Downey, Jr. in the face, causing Downey to be bloodied and knocked down, but not knocked unconscious as originally reported.^[21] The Sun reported that on 28 November, a tank truck caught fire, forcing filming to stop for two hours.^[36] When filming at St John's Street in December, the schedule had to be shortened from 13 to nine days because locals complained about how they would always have to park cars elsewhere during the shoot.^[37] In January 2009, filming moved to Brooklyn.^[38]

Ritchie wanted his Holmes' costume to play against the popular image of the character, joking "there is only one person in history who ever wore a deerstalker". Downey selected the character's hat, a beat-up fedora. The director kept to the tradition of making Holmes and Watson's apartment quite messy, and had it decorated with artifacts and scientific objects from the continents they would have visited.^[16]

Music

The soundtrack for the film was composed by Hans Zimmer. It was released on 12 January 2010.

Release

The film had its world premiere on 14 December 2009, in London and was subsequently released worldwide on 25 December 2009 (26 December, boxing day, in the UK and Ireland), after being pushed from a November release date.^[3] An advance charity screening was held in select locations in Belgium on 10 December 2009.^[39]

Box office

The film opened to an estimated $62.4 million in its first weekend in America alone, placing in second at the US box office to Avatar, which grossed $75.6 million. The film earned a strong per-theater average of $18,031 from its 3,626 theaters. Its one-day Christmas sales broke records. Sherlock Holmes had grossed $523,000,000 worldwide^[2] making it Guy Ritchie's biggest box-office success yet,^[40] and the 8th highest grossing film of 2009 worldwide, and domestically. On the domestic charts, it is the fourth highest grossing film to never hit No. 1 in the weekend box office, behind My Big Fat Greek Wedding, fellow Christmas opener Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, and said film's predecessor.^[41] Worldwide, it is the fourth highest in this category, behind Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, Casino Royale, and The Day After Tomorrow.

Critical response

The film received generally positive reviews. Review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes reports that 70% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 224 reviews, with a rating average of 6.2 out of 10, with the consensus being that "Guy Ritchie's directorial style might not be quite the best fit for an update on the legendary detective, but Sherlock Holmes benefits from the elementary appeal of a strong performance by Robert Downey, Jr." Among Rotten Tomatoes' "Top Critics", which consists of popular and notable critics from the top newspapers, websites, television and radio programs, the film holds an overall approval rating of 57%, based on a sample of 37 reviews.^[42] Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 1–100 reviews from film critics, has a rating score of 57 based on 34 reviews.^[43]

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three out of four stars and highlighted the film's strong characters, visuals and action-packed plot;^[44] the characters were also praised by Jake Tomlinson of Shave Magazine, who believed that Downey, Jr. and Law were "perfect together" and that Strong was "a convincing and creepy villain".^[45]

A. O. Scott of the New York Times noted that the director's approach to films was "to make cool movies about cool guys with cool stuff" and that Sherlock Holmes was essentially "a series of poses and stunts" which was "intermittently diverting" at best.^[46]

David Stratton of The Australian disliked the film's interpretation of the original Holmes stories and concluded, "The makers of this film are mainly interested in action; that, they believe, is all that gets young audiences into cinemas today. They may be right, but they have ridden roughshod over one of literature's greatest creations in the process." He praised the production design and score.^[47]

Home media

Sherlock Holmes was released on DVD and Blu-ray/DVD/digital on 30 March 2010 in the United States.^[48] The film has since grossed $44,908,336 in DVD sales.^[49]

Awards and accolades

On 17 January 2010, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced the winners of the 67th Golden Globe Awards with Robert Downey, Jr. winning Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for the portrayal of Sherlock Holmes.^[50] The Broadcast Film Critics Association nominated Hans Zimmer for Best Score but lost to Up by Michael Giacchino.^[51] The film was nominated for Best Original Score and Best Art Direction at the 82nd Academy Awards. The film won Best Thriller at the Empire Awards. The film was nominated for the Vits Awards for "Best Music" and "Best Effects".^[52]

Sequel

The sequel, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, with Downey and Law reprising their roles, was released on 16 December 2011.^[53]

References

External links

• Official website
• Sherlock Holmes Filming Locations
• Sherlock Holmes at the Internet Movie Database
• Sherlock Holmes at AllRovi
• Sherlock Holmes at Rotten Tomatoes
• Sherlock Holmes at Metacritic
• Sherlock Holmes at Box Office Mojo