Some directors have a filmography that reads like the greatest hits record, featuring nothing but culture-defining blockbusters one after another. Others do one specific thing so well that they become beloved by fans of that subgenre and rarely deviate from their niche. Guy Ritchie is more so the latter than the former, but he's shocked the world before.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories are among the most heavily adapted works in all of literary canon. Safe in the public domain, Holmes has appeared all over TV and film in a thousand different iterations by a thousand different creators. If one were to list every modern director, though, Guy Ritchie would have been one of the last choices to handle the property.
Guy Ritchie exploded into the world of gangster cinema in 1998 with his feature debut Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. The film introduced the world to Jason Statham, a phenomenon that has yet to die down even today. On top of prompting its star's later ascension to fame, the film is a solid and well-loved black comedy with a hard action edge. Ritchie followed it up with 2000s Snatch, solidifying his niche in the gritty crime comedy world. Though almost every other film he has ever made received, at best, mixed reception, his fans are numerous and extremely devoted. Ritchie understands something about the ethos of the criminal underbelly of London that clicks with his audience, and he's certainly made some decent films in the process. In 2009, late of his middling return to form RocknRolla, Ritchie took over Warner Bros.'s new take on Sherlock Holmes, to the shock of many.
At the time of Guy Ritchie's adaptation, the most recent theatrical Sherlock Holmes film had been released 20 years earlier. Barring a few TV movies, Holmes had been on hiatus from the screen for a strangely long time. The classic serials of the 30s and 40s were still the defining cultural image of the detective. Luckily, Ritchie was a fan of the old books. He saw many of the old adaptations as inaccurate due to their lack of large-scale action scenes, and sought to rectify the matter. The visual of Holmes as an armchair detective was often overstated in the earlier on-screen adaptation. Hollywood is often loath to portray a character as both a capable fighter and an intelligent mind. Ritchie wanted to add the action he loved to the character's intellect and interweave the two, turning his beloved Sherlock into the action hero he saw in his head. He succeeded, partially because the star behind one of the world's favorite superheroes took the lead role.
Robert Downey Jr. portrays the beloved detective with exactly the kind of easy charisma and sardonic wit one would expect from him. This was the very first role he accepted after his complete reversal of fortune in Iron Man, and it served him well. He's stellar as Sherlock, and he received a Golden Globe for the role. Alongside Downey's Holmes was Jude Law in the role of John Watson, which he also took to with substantial success. Law was on an excellent run at this point in his career, and while Watson wasn't his most prestigious role, it was one of his best of the era. Downey and Law's chemistry in their roles is the most highly-praised aspect of the film, and they deserve all the positive press they get. Whether they're fighting through a brutal action setpiece or casually exchanging banter in a quiet study, Law and Downey are one of the better Holmes and Watson duos yet committed to screen.
But a Sherlock Holmes film is only as good as the mystery that the title character is set against. This film introduces some unusual elements to a classic mystery story, but largely benefits from it. Holmes and Watson are forced to delve into the world of occultism to solve a string of murders that appear to be committed by a recently executed criminal. Mark Strong delivers an enjoyably creepy performance in the leading villain role, riding the line between Victorian-era criminal and Scooby-Doo antagonist. Rachel McAdams brings new depth to the often-overlooked adversary Irene Adler, a fascinating self-centered third side to the conflict. It's not the most cerebral mystery Holmes has ever been asked to tackle, but it makes up for that with high-tension excitement. Ritchie sets out to use Holmes' intelligence like a hero uses a superpower, and he succeeds on almost all counts.
Sherlock Holmes isn't a perfect movie, but it is one of the most unique and interesting adaptations of Doyle's work in a generation. Ritchie manages to make a better detective-action movie hybrid than almost any Batman film. The 2011 sequel is better left forgotten, missing much of the charm that kept the first one alive, but that's no reason to pass up the original. Guy Ritchie might not have been anyone's first choice, but that should be a lesson to never judge a filmmaker by their first big hits.