The game is afoot once again as Steven Moffat’s Sherlock returns to TV screens on the 1st of January to get 2012 off to a cracking start.

Moffat and Mark Gatiss chose wisely with their two lead actors for the series which succeeded in bringing the famous detective up to date while retaining the distinct flavour of Conan Doyle.

Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman have seen their careers take off in a big way with The Hobbit and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy alone and we are due three new episodes of Sherlock this year and this new trailer, all the way from the marbled halls of The Guardian, will suffice for the next nine or so days.

In 2009 the ex Mr Madonna (otherwise known as Guy Ritchie) called upon the unlikely pairing of Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law to bring back to the screen two of crime fiction’s greatest heroes – Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson.

The pair are up there amongst the most filmed literary characters, Holmes has been sticking his nose into other people’s business since the earliest days of the cinema with one of the first versions being a Danish short from 1908 pitting him against his arch nemesis Moriarty and Raffles, the Victorian gentleman thief – now that really would have been a showdown worth seeing.

So, as Ritchie prepares to throw Downey and Law together again, we decided to do some sleuthing ourselves and find six of the pipe smoking detective’s best screen adventures.  The results have proved anything but elementary!

6)  Young Sherlock Holmes (1985)

By the mid 1980’s there were few directions left in which to take the deer stalker wearing crime buster.  So, why not go back to the beginning?

Imagining how Holmes and Watson might originally have met at school, screenwriter Christopher Columbus (before his Harry Potter days), producers Mark Johnson, Henry (‘The Fonz’) Winkler and fantasy supremo Steven Spielberg placed Nicholas Rowe and Alan Cox as the young sleuths in suitably surreal predicaments complete with Egyptian’esque settings and bizarre flying machines, whilst trying to save a group of business men who are being mysteriously bumped off.

Giving Holmes a love interest in the form of delectable English actress Sophie Ward, the film’s interestingly ‘downbeat‘ finale goes some way to explaining why Holmes remained a bachelor.

5)  Basil, The Great Mouse Detective (1986)

After several lean years Disney was back on form with their reworking of the Sherlock Holmes myth.

Clearly influenced by Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce’s takes on the characters from 1940′s, the cartoon duo find themselves up against the dastardly plans of Professor Ratigan (voiced with deliciously oily venom by Vincent Price) in an imaginary London reminiscent of the studio’s 101 Dalmatians interpretation of the city.

4)  Sherlock Holmes (2009)

Guy Ritchie, a man who up to this point had been best known for one very successful film and one very public marriage, may have seemed a strange choice to bring the character of the broody, introverted Holmes to the big screen.

However his film which had the detective confronting the serial killing and occult dabbler Lord Blackwood (Mark Strong)  was a smash, perfectly casting Robert Downey Jr as a dandy with an eye for the girls in the form of Rachel McAdams, whilst perfectly at ease with his feminine side and flirting outrageously with Jude Law’s bemused and frustrated Watson.

Richie took a characteristically ‘smoking barrels‘ approach to the whole preposterous proceedings without losing Holmes’ Victorian roots, and it appears, from trailers of the new film, that he may manage it again.

3)  The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959)

Never a studio to miss a horrific opportunity, Hammer Films unleashed one of Conan Doyle’s best loved and most unsettling Holmes’ stories upon an unsuspecting public.

Colouring the tale of strange murders on the West Country moors with their trademark gory, Technicolor style (with which they had recently reanimated Dracula and Frankenstein’s monster) complemented with a rousing score by Hammer regular Bernard Robinson, they brought Peter Cushing, in the role of Holmes (his appearances as the detective over the ensuing years would become seen as some of the screen’s best interpretations of the character), up against his frequent film adversary (and real life friend) Christopher Lee as the haunted Sir Henry Baskerville, with Andre Morell as a suitably baffled Watson.

2)  Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror (1942)

Though perhaps not the truest to the original essence of Conan Doyle’s hero, the fourteen Sherlock Holmes films made by 20th Century Fox and Universal Pictures between 1939 and 1946, starring Basil Rathbone (as the good guy for a change) and Nigel Bruce, can go down in history as creating what has become Holme’s most iconic catchphrase, “elementary my Dear Watson”.

The third of the films, Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror, was the first to be given a contemporary setting, placing the duo within a war torn Britain where the country’s morale is being undermined by Nazi broadcasts being heard on BBC radio.  There is only one person of course for a puzzled government to turn to in their hour of need – Sherlock Holmes (if the great detective had really been around during World War II it probably wouldn’t have run as long as it did).

The premise of placing Holmes in a modern (for the 1940’s) setting sounds like it shouldn’t work.  But given a suitably foggy ambience by legendary Cinematographer Elwood Bredell and Art Director Jack Otterson, and with the addition in this story of 1940’s ‘Scream Queen‘ Evelyn Ankers as the prerequisite damsel in distress, this film, and the others in the series, are amongst the best and most fondly remembered of the detective’s cinematic outings.

1)  A Study in Terror (1965)

“You’ll never see anything like it this side of hell!”

With a tagline like that A Study in Terror was clearly going all out for the ‘horror’ angle.  The film brought together two legendary characters from Britain’s Victorian past, one real (Jack The Ripper) who has passed into folklore, and one fictional (Holmes, portrayed by John Neville) who has become so real in the public’s imagination that’s it’s often hard to believe he didn’t actually exist.

That the premise of the story (Holmes is called upon to investigate a spate of gruesome murders in London’s East End by the infamous Jack The Ripper) is relatively simple doesn’t matter greatly, as it’s its depiction of Victorian London with its fog enveloped East End and panic stricken ‘ladies of the night’, which makes this 1960’s gem so memorable.

Considered shocking for it’s time (it was given an X certificate by British censors due to scenes like the opening one where a young woman has a knife graphically driven through her neck), the film will also go down in history for giving us a young Judi Dench and Barbara Windsor as two of the aforementioned ‘loose women’, which in itself would be worth the admission fee.

Six of the Best – Sherlock Holmes was written by Cleaver  Patterson

Entertainment Tonight visited the set of Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes sequel and returned with some new footage from the film.

Not only do we get to see what Robert Downey Jr. would look like as an old woman (it’s not pretty…), our first look at Noomi Rapace is secreted therein too. Ritchie and Co have assembled quite a cast for this sequel, which has an unexpectedly high standard to meet.

If you want to go into it completely unspoiled then a few action sequences are shown off but the double act of Downey Jr. and Jude Law is entertaining and even director Ritchie gets involved from the sidelines.  Still a shame not to see Stephen Fry make an appearance as Mycroft Holmes, nor Jared Harris as Moriarty but I’m sure the forthcoming trailer will put that right.

Here’s the clip,

Via The Playlist.

While shooting for Guy Ritchie’s sequel to Sherlock Holmes continues apace in London eager snappers are out in force to capture the cast in their finery and today we’ve got our first look at Stephen Fry whose casting seemed completely appropriate and makes the next date with Holmes and Watson all the most tantilsing.

Yesterday Stephen Fry tweeted the following,

Lordy crumbs. Rather a late night at the Standard Theatre Awards. Victorian collar pinch a tad on Sherlock set. Heigh ho.

And now we get our chance to see said collars on Mr Fry and he looks the very essence of dapper on set in London, and this is the first look we’ve got of Sherlock’s brother Mycroft. We’ve already seen the other intriguing addition to the cast, Noomi Rapace in the first still from the film.

Other pics show the detecting duo of Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law and this sequel is certainly generating a lot of interest, here are the pics,

Splash News, as is obvious from the watermark, own these pics.

Filming continues in merry old England for Guy Ritchie’s follow up to his surprisingly successful take on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s most famous creation and tonight we get the first official look at Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law and their new companion in Sherlock Holmes 2.

JoBlo scored the picture, which is our first real look at the production outside the obligatory set pics which leaked a few weeks ago, and it’s our first chance to see Noomi Rapace. It’s good to see that Ritchie’s blend of clinical deduction and high explosives seems to be returning along with the cast and crew.

Sadly though there’s still no look at newcomers Stephen Fry or Jared Harris as Mycroft Holmes and Moriarty respectively. Maybe next time.

Pic ahoy,

The game is afoot once again with Guy Ritchie returning to the big smoke with Jude Law and Robert Downey Jr. to shoot the sequel to his well received take on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes and the long lenses were out in force today and a few pictures have emerged.

Sadly these pictures do not include the new names on the cast list this time around, with Jared Harris, Stephen Fry and Noomi Rapace all signing up to spice up proceedings for the next film.

Here are the pics,

JustJared had the pics first, so pay a visit if you fancy spreading the love.

After much speculation it seems Guy Ritchie has found the final piece of the puzzle for Sherlock Holmes 2 as the role of Professor Moriarty has been cast.

Not Daniel Day Lewis, or Brad Pitt, but the man who has oozed English charm in the recent series of Mad Man, Jared Harris.

Harris joins the returning detecting duo of Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law, along with the recent additions to the cast, Stephen Fry as Holmes’ older brother Mycroft and the original Girl with a Dragon Tattoo, Noomi Rapace.

Bleeding Cool also did a bit of digging and have hauled out the name of Russel Brand, soon to be seen in the Arthur remake, as another potential addition to the cast.

Having Harris on board seems to be a fine prospect, though I only know him from his time on Mad Man, he’s also supposed to have a role in the Tomas Alfredson adaptation of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy which has an even more impressive cast than this film.

Latino Review had the name of Harris first, and they know their onions.

Excellent casting news today for the female lead in the next Guy Ritchie directed Sherlock Holmes film.

Following her critically lauded performance as Lisbeth Salander in the big screen adaptation of Stieg Larsson’s Millennium trilogy, it was widely expected that Rapace would find her way to Hollywood and THR are reporting that she will be be starring in Ritchie’s return to Baker Street along with the original stars Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law.

Rachel McAdams, who was woefully underused in the first film, will be appearing in the sequel but it is understood that Rapace’s character (a French Gypsy according to the report) will be the main female role.

This news confirms the story running around a few months ago that while McAdams was to return for a second run around the Big Smoke she would not be in a leading role.

And without wishing to plough excessively over old bones, the report talks of Moriarty and Holmes’ brother Mycroft being in the mix, and whether it’ll be the oft-mentioned but unlikely Brad Pitt or Daniel Day-Lewis in either role the news that Rapace is involved should make the fast tracked sequel all the more enticing.

Not so long ago Jude Law was among the recent additions to the Martin Scorsese cast for his 3D adaptation of Brian Selznick’s book The Invention of Hugo Cabret along with the mighty Christopher Lee and Ray Winstone, and in talking to Empire today Law gave up a few hints about this project and the fast tracked sequel to Sherlock Holmes.

In short, Law’s role is as I suspected when his casting was announced,

I don’t want to give too much away, but I play Hugo Cabret’s father.

And unless there’s a dramatic turnaround in the book (I’m still reading it) Law won’t be on set too much, and only seen on screen in flashback, and so that’s it for Cabret so far but then Law opens up about the second coming of Sherlock Holmes.

It looks likely that we’re going to shoot the second Sherlock Holmes in October…I don’t know yet where the story will go…but there are a lot of Sherlock Holmes novels to choose from.

If the announced release date for the sequel holds then Ritchie will have a full fifteen or so months from the first take to the premiere, and with the wild rumours of Brad Pitt and Daniel Day Lewis as Moriarty flying around it looks likely that Holmes’ nemesis will be turning the screws in the next installment.

This is the rumour moving across the internets tonight and it’s shone the spotlight on Guy Ritchie’s fast tracked sequel to his take on Sherlock Holmes.

There will no doubt be an inclination on the part of Warner Bros to expand on the unexpected success of the first film and that means delving deeper into the Holmes mythology, and given his shadowbound presence in the first film you can bet that Guy Ritchie will look to bring Professor Moriarty to the fore in the sequel.

There was an early rumour that Brad Pitt was set to play Holmes’s rival (and this rumour did the rounds before the film was even released), but this name has been swept aside as SuperHeroHype have an unconfirmed report that Ritchie is courting Daniel Day-Lewis for the role.

Day-Lewis would be a great choice in pretty much any role, and his recent involvement in Rob Marshall’s Nine  illustrates that he has no problem stepping into more commercial shoes, and once you conjure the image of a Day-Lewis shaped Moriarty it’s hard to shake.

Sean Penn, Javier Bardem and Gary Oldman are also in the frame according to the unnamed source, but of course they are – this is a studio’s wish list for an iconic villain, and the team of Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law certainly sold the first film to many people so another big name makes sense. It’s just a shame that Ritchie can’t cast Mark Strong again.

So, who do you want to see pitting wits against Messrs. Downey Jr. and Law?

He’s one of our favourite actors working today, and Mark Strong has appeared in three very high profile roles in the past few months.

Not content with facing off against Kick-Ass and Robin Hood, his Lord Blackwood was one of the best elements of the Guy Ritchie Sherlock Holmes film which was out last year.

We reviewed the DVD, which is out next Monday, recently on the site, and just today Dave posted some great concept art. To complete this mini celebration of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous sleuth, we’ve got an exclusive interview with Mark Strong, in which he talks about creating his character and working with Guy Ritchie.

If you missed the film in the cinemas you can always enter our competition to win a copy of the film on Blu-ray.

Guy Ritchie’s recent form may have prejudiced some people from seeing Sherlock Holmes at the cinemas last year, but in the event it was the combination of a great cast, a fitting score and a tamed Ritchie behind the camera which led to a roaring success at the box office.

We enjoyed the film very much, you can read our review here, in particular Downey Jr’s take on the famous detective and the always excellent Mark Strong putting in another wonderful villainous performance as Lord Blackwood, and there was a tangible spark in the dialogue and almost luxuriant detail in the costume and set design which distanced it from previous adaptations.

So how does Guy Ritchie’s energetic update of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s detective fare on the small screen? It has become a trend to release a Blu-ray version of a film with a DVD or a digital copy as a bonus, and Warner Bros have elected to release all three in one box, which is great for those who want to watch a HD copy alongside the regular DVD while propping an iPod up against their TV, but it also serves the purpose of encouraging the HD averse into bring a Blu-ray into their homes for the inevitable upgrade.

And while we only got to see the regular DVD for this review there’s no doubting the visual excellence of Ritchie’s film which would benefit from the Blu-ray transfer immeasurably. As it is the DVD gets a little badly treated with only one, albeit pretty good, documentary on the making of the film, which travels behind the scenes to include talking heads from the cast and crew as well as a good look at how they put some of the set pieces together. Seeing Ritchie, Law and Downey Jr. on set is a lot of fun, and, while it’s a short experience, fans of the film are certain to enjoy it.

It’s a fun film, and Downey Jr. and Jude Law make for an engaging couple, and while it’s more akin to Young Sherlock Holmes than a full on interpretation of classic Holmes there is much to enjoy, and if you missed it at the cinemas this is the perfect time to check it out.

My advice, if you want a full Sherlock Holmes experience and if you can, go for the Blu-ray, the list of special features below will probably convince you.

Sherlock Holmes is out on DVD and Blu-ray on the 17th of May.

DVD:
• Sherlock Holmes: Reinvented – Together, Guy Ritchie and Robert Downey Jr. have reinvented Sherlock Holmes. See how these two reinterpret the master sleuth and how Downey prepares for the role and why his Thespian approach takes this classic character to levels never depicted before.

Blu-ray Disc:
• Director Guy Ritchie Walk On
• Picture in Picture commentary
• Story Board Comparisons
• Still Gallery
• Timeline
• Focus Points; Drawbridges & Dollies: Designing a Late Victorian London
• Not a Deerstalker Cap in Sight
• Ba-ritsu: A Tutorial
• Elementary English: Perfecting Sherlock’s Accent
• The One That Got Away
• Powers of Observation and Deduction
• The Sherlockians
• Future Past
• Sherlock Holmes Reinvented

We were big fans of Guy Ritchie’s take on Sherlock Holmes, and now we’re happy to give you the chance to win a copy of the film on Blu-ray which is released in the UK 17th May.

Robert Downey Jr. is all over the big screen with Jon Favreau’s Iron Man 2 at the moment, and his Sherlock Holmes surprised many people and a sequel is already in the works.

With HeyUGuys favourite Mark Strong joining Jude Law and Rachel McAdams this was a visually stunning romp and the Blu-ray has a ton of extras to complement the film.

Among the special features on this Blu-ray are:

• Maximum Movie Mode: director Guy Ritchie Walk On/Picture in Picture commentary/Story Board Comparisons
• Still Gallery
• Timeline
• Focus Point- Drawbridges & Dollies: Designing a Late Victorian London
• Elementary English: Perfecting Sherlock’s Accent
• The One That Got Away – Irene Adler
• Powers of Observation and Deduction
• Future Past
• Sherlock Holmes Reinvented

We’ve got three copies of Sherlock Holmes on Blu-ray to give away, and to be in with a chance of winning a copy of the movie all you have to do is answer the following question using the form below.

What address did Sherlock Holmes live at?

The small print:

• This competition is open to the UK only.
• Only one entry per household will be counted.
• The competition will close Monday 17th May (release date) at 23.59 GMT.
• The winners will be picked at random from entries received.

The usual T&Cs can be found here.

Competition Now Closed

Guy Ritchie may have surprised the world with his fun, if hardly flawless, rendition of Sherlock Holmes and the box office haul is impressive considering its competition with James Cameron’s Avatar.

I recall the distinct look given across the panel at the London press conference between Joel Silver and Guy Ritchie when the possibility of a sequel was queried. It was a look of quiet confidence and today EW are reporting that the film’s star Robert Downey Jr. has dropped out of Iron Man director Jon Favreau’s adaptation of Cowboys & Aliens due to scheduling conflicts with the fast tracked sequel to Sherlock Holmes.

That Warner Bros are greenlighting the sequel is no great surprise and the chance to see Downey Jr. and Jude Law back on screen bickering and deducing will be welcomed by many people who enjoyed Ritchie’s film.

There is no news yet regarding the rest of the cast (although the loss of Mark Strong’s character to the series will be felt) or who will be directing but given the critical and commercial success of Sherlock 1 the decision to keep a strong team together is elementary. A June shoot is expected with a 2011 release looking likely.

It’s best to distance yourself from notions of what you expect from a Guy Ritchie film and instead think of this as a vigorous adaptation of the iconic detective, fronted by an actor whose charisma, wit and strong physical presence makes this film a joy to behold.

Guy Ritchie has made an entertaining and exciting film, faithful to the core of the original rather than the accepted iconography of the enduring detective. To paraphrase the tagline of a recent, and successful, reinvention: this is not your father’s Sherlock Holmes.

Determined to avoid the narrative restraints of an origin story this film begins with Watson, Holmes and the familiar miscellany of Conan Doyle’s characters in play. Opening with a baroque action set piece Holmes and Watson apprehend Lord Blackwood in the throes of bloody, ritualistic murder. Lestrade and his forces turn up too late and what could have passed for the film’s end scene plays out with a verbal and physical flourish and so we begin.

Two things happen. The established world of Holmes and Watson, their relationship, banter and professional accumen are present and the script’s economy, as well as our knowledge of the world gained by cultural osmosis, renders this with great efficiency. The characters are well formed, and as an audience we know where we are in the wider world of Holmes. This is a buddy movie, an action thriller, a detective story, but it hints to the promise of something more and the film delivers on almost all of this promise. 

The other key thing to happen occurs when Holmes crouches to his knees in anticipation of taking out a guard. I won’t spoil it but it takes the cinematic flair of Guy Ritchie, Downey’s studied madness and a visual effect overused in recent times to make something fresh and fun out of this scene. It’s a crucial opening, and you know what kind of film Ritchie has set out to make. The camera’s movements are swift and chaotic, and this sense of muddle and mystery is maintained throughout. 

I won’t spoil the story, suffice to say that the joy of Holmes’ conclusive summation (almost beyond parody with years of Scooby Doo) has its moment but never weighs too heavily on the narrative flow. The pace is so quick you don’t have time to pull together the threads of clues, and Ritchie avoids making us play detective, and this to the film’s benefit. The pace of the film is a touch uneven with small character based scenes often lining up uncomfortably with scenes of elaborate peril, but never once did I care. The ride was too much fun.

Robert Downey Jr. is exceedingly good in this role, springing from an intectually induced malaise to deducing personalities with sharp precision, bringing an energy and charm to a performance which is engaging and a lot of fun. A conscious decision was made by the production team to avoid the Holmesian accoutrements, so bareknuckle fistfights and childish bickering with Watson take the place of deerstalkers and ‘Elementary’s. Hammer fights in the dockyards are the order of the day, and Downey makes this work, and is able to make Holmes a man of physical, as well as intellectual, power.  

Complaints against the casting of Jude Law as Watson are groundless after his first interaction with Downey’s Holmes. You get the impression they enjoyed working together and the decision to make Watson and Holmes as equals actually allows Watson to step back occasionally and this helps focus the story on Holmes. Though at times the story’s pacing is carried along by Ritchie’s visual momentum Law and Downey make an engaging pair.

In creating Lord Blackwood, an original villain and an original mystery to accompany him, the film frees itself from cultural shackles and this is not meant disparagingly; the film needs to maintain an intellectual curiousity in the audience as well as an emotional bond and a pulse heightening charge. Mark Strong has pointed out that by having Holmes’ nemesis Professor Moriarty as the villian of the piece the mythology would be set, the ritualistic murders an impossibility for this well known adversary. Strong is impeccable as always, imbuing the sometimes cliched script with a dark purpose; I could have watched him all day. Rachel McAdams’ character Adler,  isn’t given the same treatment sadly, and our attraction to her character diminishes as her arc rarely steps out of the conventional. 

The film I thought of most was Barry Levinson’s oft overlooked Young Sherlock Holmes with its secret societies, demonic ritualistic undertones and the spirit of Holmes is alive in this film, as it was in that one. The production design is flawless, Guy Ritchie has spoken of the luxury of walking onto set and finding a tangibly real set, potent with inspiration for the day’s shooting and Sarah Greenwood’s creations are intricate and crafted with such care. From the opulent society dinners to the dark, dangerous prisons each scene invites you delve deeper into the world Holmes inhabits, and is a perfect representation of the chaos he seeks to bring to order.

Hans Zimmer’s score is riddled with little touches to elevate it above the norm. The jangly anarchy of the early scenes set up the London streets with an uneasy jauntiness while at other times he uses the plucking of violin strings to echo Holmes’ meditation as the pace of the film slows. 

In essence this is an old style action film that is immensely enjoyable, with two engaging leads, a dangerous villian and Ritchie proves he is able to control action set pieces with aplomb. Deliberately wide ranging in its appeal there is much to enjoy about this film, and the decision to use Conan Doyle’s words in as many scenes as possible is testament to the regard Ritchie and his team have for the source material. Downey and Strong excel, and raise what, in lesser hands, may have suffered a more mundane fate to create an exciting spin on an established classic.

Sherlock Holmes is out in the US on Christmas Day, with the UK getting it a day later.

Calling all aspiring detectives! HeyUGuys have teamed up with Warner Bros. to give you the chance to win some fantastic Sherlock Holmes goodies to celebrate the launch of the new Guy Ritchie film, Sherlock Holmes starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law as the dynamic detecting duo.

This is your chance to win T-shirts, a cap, a mug and of course, a magnifying glass – get yourself a deerstalker and you’re ready to go.

Details of the competition are below, good luck!

How Holmes are you? Players can immerse themselves in the world of the new Sherlock Holmes movie with unique, free to all, online adventure at www.221b.sh – the game is afoot!

To win the prize all you need to do is go to the site above and note down in the trailer that is played: Which prominent London landmark is being built in the background?

Send your answer to holmes@heyuguys.co.uk

All the usual T&Cs apply, and you can view those here.

The small print:

* This competition is open to the UK only.

* Only one entry per household will be counted.

* The competition will close Thursday the 31st of December at 23.59 GMT.

* The winners will be picked at random from entries received.

Guy Ritchie has his hands on a winner here. If you were in any doubt as to the authenticity of his re-imagining of Conan Doyle’s dour detective you need look no futher than this new trailer, released over at MTV. It shows Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law as Holmes and Watson: The Superhero years with fist fights, quick wits and the whole of London on fire from one exploding side show or another. To paraphrase J.J. Abrams – this is not your father’s Sherlock Holmes.

And yet it works. I was smiling constantly through this trailer, loving the interplay between Holmes and Watson, genuinely excited to see Mark Strong’s sneering villain; this is London and Holmes seen through a laudanum induced haze. I got a sense I was watching something akin to Alan Moore’s League of Extraordinary Gentlemen – the scale, the dirt and the violence, crossed with Steven Sommers’ The Mummy when watching this.

It all points to a great Christmas Day here in the UK. Watch and enjoy below.