There are so many poorly-made, big-budget blockbuster films that it's exciting to get one that's good.  When a major event movie isn't insulting to the audience (Transformers 2) or the source material (Van Helsing) or the art of film-making (Catwoman,) I'm likely to give it a pass simply for not wasting my time, but I don't often expect much from it.  When these kinds of films are pretty fun and well-done (Casino Royale,) I walk out of the theater feeling glad that the masses won't have to lower their already dismal entertainment standards.  Sherlock Holmes is an invigorating take on a legendary character that winds up being exactly as fun and exhilarating as it should be.

It turns out that Guy Ritchie is the perfect director to make a modern film out of a period hero who's already had numerous runs on the screen.  Ritchie keeps the movie propulsive, the action balanced with the story, and the characters charming from beginning to end.  It's a typical science vs. mysticism kind of Sherlock Holmes story and if you've ever seen or read a Holmes story, you'll know where this one is going from the first five minutes, but that shouldn't keep you from enjoying the journey.  These stories work best when we can relax and let Holmes solve the mystery in his own unique way.  And unique is what Ritchie, Robert Downey Jr., and Jude Law bring to the Holmes mythology that makes this film so much fun.

Ritchie's film isn't the stodgy or stuffy Sherlock Holmes that people might remember, but it's not unhinged or overly-stylized either.  The film could have easily lost its way with a nu-metal score or with lots of unnecessary CGI, but it managed to somehow feel classic and modern all at once.  I wasn't sure that I'd like Robert Downey Jr. as Holmes and it took a few minutes for me to get used to his approach to the character but once I settled in, I realized that he was great.  Jude Law makes a perfect Dr. Watson.  He's always torn between the proper world he should resign to and the dangerous world that Holmes inhabits, and his internal struggle is one of the things that moves the story forward.  

I hope that this film does well and that people realize that a well-made big-budget movie is worth supporting.  We could get a couple more Holmes films with this crew and they could all be lots of fun, or we could wait for the next League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.  I hope that the studios and that people who sort of aimlessly trek off to the movies recognize the difference.  When movies like Old Dogs fail and movies like Sherlock Holmes succeed, it gives me hope.