One word to sum it up: Awesome! Definitely one of those movies worth paying for.

I went to the cinema together with a few friends to watch Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law in action. Oh boy, Downey as Holmes was a really stellar performance. He managed to portray Holmes in a totally different way. I grew up thinking Sherlock Holmes was some kind of nerdy fellow with the huge cloak thing running around solving crimes. In the movie, Holmes was not nerdy at all. In fact, he is a fighter, a problem solver and an exceptional analyst. Same goes with Dr. Watson. A charming, bookish looking doctor who wields a cunningly concealed blade inside a walking stick beating the crap out of villains? Drool. They like, totally pawned it man.

The pair had such chemistry, it is hard to hold back from grinning at their snide commentaries and witty banters. That being said, the first 10 minutes of the movie was really confusing. The English accent was so thick, it was hard to make out what they were saying. Though that only contributed to the fun factor.

The sharp and funny remarks and dialogue aside, the movie offers some really good action scenes. Packed to the rim with intense encounters and fights, enough to hold you to your seats. No seriously, I just love watching the good doctor beat crap out of people. The moments where Holmes plan his sequence of attacks are just jaw-dropping. They give a glimpse of what goes through his head as he thinks out his exact moves to block, parry, strike and pummel a guy to submission in slow motion. Amazing.

Holmes’ famous deductive reasoning method is the most attractive point of the movie. From seemingly unconnected pieces of evidence, he can arrive very impossibly to conclusions. It is just fulfilling to watch as Holmes uncover one mystery after another, unveiling a clever ploy to disguise a power-hungry villain’s ambition as dark arts. It was one of the rare moments in movies when I went “Ooooh” and “Aaahh”.

Excellent plot, superb acting and witty banter. What more could one ask for? Two thumbs up, definitely.