The character of Sherlock Holmes and his sidekick Dr. John Watson originated in the mind of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle almost 125 years ago. Since then the character has been revived in a radio show, reborn in the 22^nd century, and been portrayed by 75 actors in 211 films. This latest reincarnation is crafted by director Guy Ritchie with Robert Downey Jr. playing the detective and Jude Law his partner in crime, Dr. Watson.

Sherlock Holmes is a rather unique movie for this day and age. When special effects and big explosions tend to be a studio’s favorite draw, Sherlock Holmes has none of those. Instead, it takes a slightly different route by crafting unique, interesting characters and a terrific storyline- with a few explosions.

The movie opens with the duo putting the brakes on a ritual killing and catching the bad guy, Lord Blackwood. Blackwood get sentenced to hang, actually gets hanged, but ten appears to rise from the dead to continue with his evil scheming. Bored to death since catching him the last time, Holmes is more than happy to take up the chase again. The only problem is in having to trick Watson into coming along; Watson is planning on getting married and living a simpler life.

Being the genius that he is, Holmes manages to get Watson to join in the hunt, and the pursuit of Lord Blackwood is on. The plot thickens as it soon becomes apparent that there is more to Lord Blackwood then some ritualistic killings.

Downey and Law are excellent in their roles. Downey does an incredible job of bringing every quirk and nuance of the great detective to life. You can really feel the genius at work as he uses his amazing talents to break the future Mrs. Watson down to her very core after meeting her for a brief moment. Law does a great job of playing Watson and bringing out the side of the character that craves normalcy while still enjoying the thrill of the hunt. The only detractor for the show would be the somewhat forgettable performance of Rachel McAdams as Holmes’s muse, Irene Adler, but since she only has a few scenes, that is okay.

Ritchie’s vision of the great detective focuses on his anti-social, eccentric behavior along with his brilliant analytical mind and fighting skills, something that is often left out in many of the interpretations of the character. The way he slows down scenes to highlight Holmes’s deduction o f events puts a unique spin on the character’s genius.

Normally, Ritchie is one of those directors that do something to put his stamp on a movie, but this time he did not. Instead he just focused on creating an interesting and entertaining movie. Anyone who misses this one will be missing out on one of the best movies of the year.

Beer: Mann’s Original Brown Ale- once hawked by the infamous detective himself back in the 1950s, this dark, bubbly beer will actually remind you of a Coke when you look at it. The relatively weak alcohol content (2.8%) makes this beer an easy one to enjoy. Very light in body, this beer has a pleasant scent with a delicious malty flavor- and you will not be under the table after a night of drinking it all night!