The movie is well paced with excellent performance from Robert Downey (Sherlock Holmes) and Jude Law (Watson). I particularly liked the humour delivered by Holmes, besides the cinematography of the movie.

The movie starts with Holmes and Watson reaching on time to stop a human sacrifice ritual being performed by Blackwood. He is put behind the bars and executed after 3 months. Before his execution, he desires to meet Holmes and warns him of 3 more deaths after his execution. As later explained, Blackwood was a former member of ‘Temple of the four orders’, a secret society which Blackwood desires to take over so that he could use its power to push for England to take over America. The Temple is scared of Blackwood’s ‘powers’ and they plead Holmes to stop him in creating havoc all over the world.

Blackwood is executed and declared dead by Watson. However, three days after his execution, his tomb is found shattered and an eyewitness claims that he has seen Blackwood walk out of his grave.

Holmes is a non believer in the ‘magical’ works of Blackwood and the Secret society and attempts to look for logical coherency in all the events. What follows is an interesting unfolding of the secret ‘power’ of Blackwood by Holmes and Watson. I liked the climax on the Tower Bridge set on the river Thames.

The movie holds you till the last moment and the only ‘magical power’ that seemed to hold was Downey’s performance.