elementary...

Sherlock Holmes with a Kick
11-Aug-2008
Written by: Dean Stattmann

This Sherlock will have more than a magnifying glass up his sleeve.

With Robert Downey, Jr. fans still distracted by the actor’s exhilarating portrayal of Iron Man, let alone his hilarious role as Kirk Lazarus in Ben Stiller’s summer comedy, Tropic Thunder, the less than malleable superhero has something a little different in store.

The actor’s current project (and by no means the only one) is a revival of the world’s most famous fictional detective, Sherlock Holmes. But while most people will claim to have the good Sherlock all figured out, Downey’s character will not be so elementary.

“It will be director Guy Ritchie's take on Sherlock Holmes,” he told the Chicago Sun-Times. “It's a contemporary version of a classic tale. But we're not telling one of the stories from the books.”

That’s right. And you know what contemporary version means: action, action, action . . . and probably some sex.

“The cool thing about Sherlock is he's a very skilled martial artist,” Downey said. “So it's not just about his deductions. This movie will also be a very action-packed version of Sherlock Holmes.”

Luckily for us, action is Downey’s recently adopted middle name, and the star is more than up to the task of playing an intellectual ninja. “I'm always training. I'm big into martial arts,” he told the Sun-Times. “We're putting together a team of people to do something more transcendent with the fighting for the movie.”

“I love bare knuckled boxing,” he continued. “It's real balls to the walls brutal stuff. Guy is a martial artist and I'm a martial arts student. So you'll get all the Sherlock stuff, but hopefully much more fun.”