After a few months of casting and pre-production, Guy Ritchie's new take on Sherlock Holmes started filming yesterday.

The new movie stars Robert Downey Jr. as Holmes, Jude Law as Watson, and Rachel McAdams as Irene Adler (who appears in Arthur Conan Doyle's short story "A Scandal in Bohemia" and is mentioned in four others).

It doesn't sound as though classic Holmes nemesis Professor Moriarty will appear, though; the central villain of the movie will be played by Mark Strong and is named Blackwood.

Also, expect Holmes to bust out some fighting skills in this one in addition to his classic dialogue-driven detective work. The first synopsis: "Sherlock Holmes sends Holmes and his stalwart partner Watson on their latest challenge. Revealing fighting skills as lethal as his legendary intellect, Holmes will battle as never before to bring down a new nemesis and unravel a deadly plot that could destroy the country."

Not sure how I feel about a Sherlock Holmes that fights like Jason Bourne, but I guess it was inevitable. ❏