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Sherlock Holmes
Movie

Sherlock Holmes

2009 • Unknown

Woke Score
3
out of 10

Plot

Eccentric consulting detective Sherlock Holmes and Doctor John Watson battle to bring down a new nemesis and unravel a deadly plot that could destroy England.

Overall Series Review

Sherlock Holmes (2009) is a period action-mystery film that reinterprets the classic characters with a focus on gritty street fighting, explosions, and Sherlock’s hyper-rationalist process. The central plot revolves around the detective and his partner, Dr. Watson, attempting to stop Lord Blackwood, a villainous English aristocrat and occultist who appears to have risen from the dead using dark magic and ritualistic murder to seize political power. The conflict is a direct battle between scientific logic and the manipulative power of supernatural fear. A former lover and criminal adversary, Irene Adler, is introduced as a highly capable and autonomous female figure who challenges Holmes’s intellect. The film’s primary ideological leaning is its vigorous promotion of cold, empirical rationalism against all forms of faith and mysticism, though it largely avoids the modern trappings of identity politics.

Categorical Breakdown

Identity Politics1/10

The film does not engage in intersectional politics or rely on immutable characteristics. Characters are judged solely by their merit and competence, whether as a brilliant detective, a loyal doctor, or a master criminal. The main cast is racially and historically authentic to the Victorian London setting, and the villain's malice is based on ambition, not 'whiteness' or systemic critique.

Oikophobia2/10

The villain, Lord Blackwood, is a white English aristocrat and member of a powerful, shadowy English secret society that he attempts to hijack for his own nefarious purposes, specifically to destroy the parliament and assume control. The hero, Sherlock Holmes, fights to save the institutions of England from this internal corruption, depicting the core of the civilization as worth defending, not fundamentally corrupt or racist.

Feminism4/10

The main female character, Irene Adler, is established as a highly intelligent, cunning, and independent criminal mastermind known as 'The Woman' whom Sherlock views as an intellectual equal. She operates outside traditional feminine roles and is depicted as a competent 'Girl Boss' type. However, the film does not extensively lecture on gender issues, nor are the male leads entirely emasculated; they remain hyper-masculine action heroes and geniuses, with the female character serving as a unique rival rather than a moral superior.

LGBTQ+4/10

While the film maintains the appearance of a traditional male-female pairing for Watson, it includes significant subtext and innuendo about the nature of the Holmes and Watson relationship, often leaning into the popular 'queer' reading of the partnership. Holmes's effeminate tendencies are highlighted, and much of the tension revolves around his jealousy of Watson's engagement to a woman, which hints at centering alternative, non-explicit sexualities through ambiguity.

Anti-Theism7/10

The entire plot functions as a systematic deconstruction of supernatural belief. The villain, Lord Blackwood, pretends to use dark magic, occult rituals, and even fakes his own resurrection. Sherlock Holmes, the hero, serves as a hyper-rationalist champion who patiently explains every single 'miracle' as a calculated trick of science, chemistry, and engineering. The core message is that all faith in the supernatural is merely superstitious fear to be dispelled by empirical logic.