Critics welcome Ritchie return to form
Director Guy Ritchie has not always had the best relationship with film critics but that may have changed with the launch of his new movie.
The release of Sherlock Holmes, which premiered last night in Leicester Square, has been greeted as a return to form for a man who seemed to be in danger of being best known as Madonna's ex-husband.
David Hayles, in The Times, gave it three stars and praised the film's "delicious scenes" and Ritchie's "peerless editing style".
He conceded it was "overlong" and "drags to a lacklustre showdown" but said Ritchie's version of Victorian London's famous detective deserved a sequel.
Marc Lee in the Daily Telegraph said Ritchie showed "verve, panache and, for him, relative restraint" in what was "undeniably a rollicking romp, an all-action blockbuster".
The only note of dissent was in The Guardian, where Catherine Shoard said the film was "high-end hack work" and reflected the director's "collapse of confidence in his ability to deliver anything."
There was also much praise for the film's two stars, Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law, who play super-sleuth Holmes and his sid-kick Watson, with one critic lauding "a career best performance" from Law.
It will be seen as a return to form for Ritchie. His career got off to a flying start when his debut film, 'Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels', was a critical and commercial success.
But subsequent releases including 'Swept Away' featuring his then-wife Madonna, and 'RocknRolla' were panned by critics.
Ritchie was staying tight-lipped about the prospect of a sequel at last night's opening, saying he would "have to see how well this one does".
He said he knew the stories of Holmes's adventures from childhood, adding: "I had an idea of how he should be represented and from what I understand it's not quite how he's been previously represented."
The action adventure opens across the UK on Boxing Day.
