No deerstalker cap in this version of Holmes

I finally got around to watching last year’s “Sherlock Holmes,” which starred Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law as Sherlock Holmes and his sidekick Dr. Watson, respectively. This movie was fun to watch, and I enjoyed it a great deal.
Unless they’ve been living under a rock for most of their lives, most people are at least somewhat familiar with the famous, fictional detective, Sherlock Holmes, who was created by Victorian era writer, Sir. Arthur Conan Doyle. This movie, which was directed by Madonna’s husband, Guy Ritchie, presents the famed detective as never before and is an interesting take on the super sleuth.
In this movie, which was released on Christmas Day 2009, Holmes and Watson are called on to get to the bottom of a series of murders that seem to be the result of occult rituals. They learn that the villainous Lord Blackwood, who they thought was dead, is the cause of it all, and the movie doesn’t reach its climax until a dramatic confrontation at the top of London’s Tower Bridge.
For those of you who enjoyed the movie, you will likely enjoy Doyle’s four novels and 56 short stories that gave birth to the famed detective. One interesting footnote about these stories and the movie is the fact that the entire movie takes place in the year 1891. According to the Internet Movie Database, this “sets the story during the period which, in the original Arthur Conan Doyle stories, Holmes was believed dead. According to ‘The Final Problem,’ Holmes and Professor Moriarty apparently plunged to their deaths over the Reichenbach Falls in May 1891. Holmes did not reveal he had survived until the spring of 1894, as described in ‘The Adventure of the Empty House.’”
Fans of the movie will also be pleased to hear that a sequel, Sherlock Holmes 2, is already in the works. Pre-production began in March, and the sequel is scheduled for release in December 2011. It was rumored that Brad Pitt would play the villain, Moriarty, but those rumors eventually proved untrue.
In the end, I really enjoyed this movie and actually plan to watch it a second time with my wife before sending it back to NetFlix. Have any of you out there seen this movie? If so, what did you think of it? Also, how many of you are fans of the original Doyle stories? Which of those stories is your favorite?