VIEWED: Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

For the first time in five months of Beerbohmtastic, I have gone to see a movie without reviewing the trailer.  I had seen the trailer; I meant to review the trailer; I think I even liked the trailer, but I didn't get around to reviewing it.  Last night, the wife told me we were going to see the new Sherlock Holmes movie at the local cinema.  I asked what else was playing and she said, "nothing else at 7:00 PM."

I hadn't read any of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories.  I think I watched The Hound of The Baskervilles, starring Basil Rathbone on TV when I was a kid. I don't remember much about it.  I did love Disney's The Great Mouse Detective...  What I'm trying to say is that I'm not a purist, nor snob, and other than knowing about Sherlock Holmes and "deductive reasoning" (which I don't practice) and the term, "elementary, my dear Watson," which is an old fashioned way of saying "duh," I know enough about him to know that he was brilliant, a master of disguise and was the first CSI detective in history.

I believe (please correct me if I'm wrong) it was the great director Robert Altman who said that Robert Downey Jr. is the best American actor of our time.  He said something about the fact that, regardless of the issues in Downey Jr.'s personal life, on-set he was always prepared and professional.

I like Robert Downey Jr. He is great in every role and he has played so many different roles.  As Kirk Lazarus in Tropic Thunder he was brilliantly hilarious.  He was perfectly cast as Tony Stark in Iron Man.  I loved the first Iron Man and was entertained by the second.  But I am a sucker for comic book movies...

The image of Sherlock Holmes is that of a meticulous, clean, gentleman.  One who can use his fists, but also doesn't need to because he is clever, cunning and smarter than pretty much everyone.

Robert Downey Jr.'s Sherlock Holmes is not exactly the Sherlock Holmes I would have envisioned.  As great an actor as Downey Jr. is, I'm not sure if I like his Holmes and I can't quite identify why. Maybe it's just me.

I don't really care for Jude Law, but he's okay as Watson.

All that to say that Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows is a good, not great, movie that provides enough entertainment, action, cleverness and fun to make it worth the cost of admission.