Watch Sherlock Holmes

The film Sherlock Holmes was heralded as a masterpiece, breathing a modern life and interpretation into the character, without actually altering his time period. The movie starred Robert Downey Jr. as Holmes, and with Jude Law as the ever faithful Watson, the original dynamic duo was on the case. The film deals with Holmes and Watson's last case as flat mates, the kidnapping and murder of young girls by a cult run by Lord Blackwood. Blackwood is sentenced to hang by the neck until dead, but when he apparently rises from the grave Holmes is called back to lend his unparalleled brain to the case. What Holmes begins to suspect is that Blackwood is leading a coup, disguising science as magic to bring the occult faithful to his side to help him in his takeover of the British empire.

Holmes and Watson must also join forces with international adventuress Irene Adler to operate over, above and outside the law in order to make sure that all of the players are in their places. Meanwhile Irene's mysterious employer, a shadowy professor who seeks Blackwood's science and weapons for his own nefarious use, is also taking a hand in the proceedings. It is the debut of Moriarty, kept back in the darkness, that set the scene for the sequel to this film, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

Sherlock Holmes as a film went back to the text of the famous detective in many respects. Holmes's use of drugs, his terrible personal hygiene, his horrendous interpersonal skills and his bizarre combat and marksmanship abilities were all listed in the core material, but they were so rarely made a part of the performance. Additionally, though Watson is a combat veteran as well as a surgeon, his image has so often been the dumpy, dull witted companion to Holmes. This film combed the text and gave not only a more action packed and fast paced, but also a more accurate, reading of the characters than has been seen in film in a long time.