You Know His Methods, Watson

I remember how Guy Ritchie's second film Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels brought him popularity when it was released, and the follow up Snatch didn't do too bad either. At least I remember everyone in Brasil (apart from me) liking them. Then he met Madonna and got married. Everything after that - Swept Away, Revolver, etc - was panned and ignored by the public. Then he got divorced from Madonna... and came up with Sherlock Holmes, which is getting bums on seats and some awards on the back of Robert Downey Junior. Was Madonna a curse to Guy's career? It's elementary, my dear reader.

Madonna is to films what Morrissey is to up-and-coming bands. It's famously known that any young band that gets Morrissey's seal of approval finds itself sunk after a year or two (some, like Suede, managed to outlast the curse, but just...) Now just imagine if you are a film maker and you marry Madonna! That's like a believer in David Icke's Reptoid Hypothesis suddenly finding himself marrying into the Royal Family.

Sherlock Holmes isn't a too shabby film; it's a perfect, and somewhat traditional, rolicking adventure involving a pair of detectives fighting to stop an evil genius. Think cop buddy films. Think 007 as well as the (now badly dated) 80s adventure The Young Sherlock Holmes. To me, Downey Junior is the reason for watching it: he brings his usual touch of camp to the dialogue that is just a pleasure; he's also a great physical actor not afraid to show off his diminutive frame (unlike Tom Cruise). Jude Law isn't too bad either but, between Downey Junior and the great Mark Strong playing the evil Lord Blackwood, he's left stranded in the background. The cinematography is just gorgeous, even if there's some confusion as to where things are located in London, and I also loved some of the gypsy-like percussion and strings in Hans Zimmer's soundtrack.

It has put me in the mood for reading the original Sherlock Holmes stories (which I remember very well being completely different from the film) as well as watching more Downey Junior films. I never thought I'd say this... but I'm looking forward to Guy Ritchie making a sequel out of this!