Samuel Meteyard This is a very poor film, it seems that the director and producer simply created a character and gave him the same name as the great detective, he is nothing at all like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's original creation.To begin with, Holmes had several inapproriate affairs with women and is acting like some sort of a poor action hero. Dr Watson is far too old (both men are meant to be in there very early twenties) and Mycroft, for some inexplicable reason, is a cripple with metal casts on his legs.James D'Arcy makes a fair stab at Sherlock Holmes and Richard E. Grant (unfortunately only in one scene and a few flashback sequences) is excellent as Mycroft Holmes.This film would have been much, much better had they followed Doyle's original writings and hired better actors.

tedg I saw this at the same time as "Finding Jane," and it struck me as positioning itself in the same space. Except Jane Austen actually lived. The idea here is to pretend that we are taking a step back from the stories, with all their quaint Victorianisms, and give us the real deal.So we have promiscuous sex and drugs, explicit medical procedures, personal demons and a wholly modern approach to narrative and film.Even when it fails it works, because we say no, the real Sherlock wasn't so and so.Embedded in this is the famous Moriarty. He's updated as well. He's still the product of several generations of progressive evil. He's still in it for the buck, but this Moriarty will torture for the fun of it. There's no gentlemans' game of wits here. Moriarty is always a step ahead, but it seems to be just better planning and not some omniscient genius. Its not situated well for me. I would have made different choices so far as the sex is a part of the environment. In this case, he simply hooks up with one or two giggling women at a time. I think such a mind would find women with real souls and since at his level they would be exceedingly rare, there's be one. He would seek solace. He would probably have all sorts of mental phases: peaks and valleys of creativity and cleverness. These would certainly be linked to his relationship with this woman, and if the camera needs to bring sex into the picture, then it would be the most intense, sublime and deep in all the land.Vincent is all wrong for Moriarty. Even in the most unrealistic of the traditional stories, he's superhuman and I mean that literally. He's transcendent, not fitting into the reality. He's responsible for nearly every evil you find in London and much of elsewhere. He's saturated that space that usually belongs to the author.Vincent doesn't understand this, and plays an ordinary Mafia boss.Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.

genam I liked the movie. I thought all the main characters did a really good job.But I also have a very bad taste in movies. I think the Richard Grant thing was a bit unnecessary. The idea of bringing a past into it was interesting, but not really developed as much as it could have been. I never fully understood why they brought him in to the story and to be honest, even as a Richard Grant fan, I didn't care much about the character. He could have been brought a bit more into the story. But D'arcy was great. So was the guy who played Watson. Still, the way they left it off, there is room for sequels. So unless they bring Grant back into the story later, I don't know. I think the scene and he story were well done, but just not as necessary as everything else.

robynwaterspryte I first saw James D'Arcy in Master and Commander and, even though he only had a small part, I knew, call it a gut feeling, that he had talent. So I looked him up here and found Sherlock, so I went online and I ordered it. I waited three days and by the time I got it I was bursting at the seams, and I was NOT disappointed!James presents an amazing performance, my spelling isn't great, and I was impressed at the way he'd made Sherlock arrogant, yet humble, not very humble but you could see it, and he was handsome and sexy all at once!Vincent D'Onfrio is an excellent actor and portrayed Proffessor Moriarty excellently! He was mad and brilliant all to one! It was brilliant!The movie was well cast and Dr.Watson was amazing, you could see his disdain at Holmes at the beginning develop into the camraderie that they share at the end, amazing!!I would recommend this movie to every Holmes fan, it is an amazing piece of work!!