"Sherlock Holmes" (2009) is surprisingly uninteresting. I say surprising, since the plot does contain intriguing elements, including a secret Masonic order which practices sex magick and seems to control the entire British Empire! The psychotic villain is an Anti-Christ figure and claims to have supernatural powers. One of his plots is the reconquest of the United States. In the background lurks Professor Moriarty and (more in the foreground) Irene Adler.
And yet, the entire thing feels boring, despite all the special effects...or perhaps precisely for that reason. Holmes is just as annoying as usual (although not borderline mad as in some other adaptations) but he also comes across as an impossible superhero figure. I almost expected him to don a red cape and start flying! Every superman needs some kryptonite to keep the story interesting, but Holmes´ infatuation with Adler doesn´t really fill that role.
In the end, Holmes fights the Anti-Christ (Lord Blackwood) on an unfinished Tower Bridge and reveals that the latter´s Hermetic-alchemical magick was just naturalistic trickery. Meanwhile, Moriarty steals the *really* important part of Blackwood´s doomsday machine: a coil generating radio waves...and sets the scene for a sequel. That is, the more well-known movie "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows" (2011).
Despite the shortcomings, Holmes is right. Imagine the power somebody could wield by controlling machines from afar by mysterious radio waves.
Or the power of, you know, mass media. No need for secret societies...
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