Sherlock Holmes movie review

I just watched “Sherlock Holmes” and as a long time fan of the Arthur Conan Doyle Books I was very pleased. *SPOILERS COMING* .
First the casting. Robert Downey Jr. as Sherlock Holmes. When I first saw this I was somewhat taken aback. I mean he hardly fit the description in the novels and short stories. Now the writers took some license with Sherlock’s personality and yet kept the main essence of the character and Downey took this and made it his own. The biggest difference is; In the books Sherlock is a perfect English Gentleman, in this movie he is a crass rogue. In the books Sherlock copes with boredom between cases with an addiction to cocaine. In this movie his own Brilliant mind feeds his delirium between cases as he seems nearly unable to control the breakneck pace of his own genius thoughts.
Jude Law as Dr. Watson. This is actually a pretty faithful portrayal of the character. Dr. Watson is a veteran of the British Army, A good doctor that has recently started a private practice and Sherlock’s best friend and roommate. He is a proper English gentleman, Brave and always ready for a fight.
Rachael McAdams as Irene Adler, “The” Lady as Holmes always referred to her, is an excellent choice. Playing the part with all the class, charm and guile from the novel.
Now some may take exception to the fight scenes in the movie, Both Holmes and Watson pulling of some nice martial arts moves, but if you’ve read the books remember that they, as any gentleman, would be well versed in fencing. In fact most gentlemen of the day carried walking sticks as much for self defense (as the fencing moves can also be used with a stick as well as a blade) as for the fashion of the day. Also, Holmes was in fact well versed in boxing as wells as jujutsu and was exceptionally strong. Of course in the books Holmes wouldn’t be caught dead engaging in “Pit Fights” let alone betting on them, but clearly this is not your father’s Holmes. The non-stop action, chase scenes, fights & explosions did not detract at all from Holmes obvious brilliance (I loved the visual style Guy Ritchie used to illustrate Holmes ability to be thinking 5, 6 or more moves ahead of his opponents). Believe me, there were plenty of his analytical deductions throughout the film to satisfy my sense of loyalty to the original incarnation. And of course the ending introduces him to his arch nemesis and sets the stage for a sequel which I eagerly await. If you are an old time Sherlock Holmes fan, see this movie, accept it on it’s own merits and you will be satisfied. If you’ve never heard of Sherlock Holmes, see this movie and you will be entertained as you might expect from any well made action/adventure film made in recent years.