Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
dir. Kerry Conran (2004)
A fun, freewheeling alternative-history adventure in the Indiana Jones spirit. Gwyneth Paltrow and Jude Law work the dynamic well enough but are continually undermined by the risibly fake bluescreen backdrops. Shearmur’s stirring score runs up against the same crippling lack of verisimilitude.
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
dir. Guy Ritchie (2011)
Robert Downey Jr’s Holmes hides his genius behind a facade of extemporised buffoonery. Jude Law’s Watson is less idolising, more exasperated, than in the original stories. Their dynamic nevertheless works, carrying the more stylised mayhem as Ritchie’s treatment walks its fine line.
Sherlock Holmes
dir. Guy Ritchie (2009)
Ritchie’s interpretation of Sherlock Holmes works on several levels—as a dark and detailed period piece, as character comedy, and as a buddy film. Jude Law (Watson) and Robert Downey Jr (Holmes) have an edgy dynamic. Rachel McAdams scintillates as Irene Adler.