Film company face-offs are not that uncommon. Last year there was the battle of the animated rats, Flushed Away (Dreamworks) and Ratatouille (Pixar/Disney), with the latter obviously winning. There was also the battle of large objects crashing into earth movies, with Armageddon and Deep Impact both released around the same time (whoever won, we lost). And it seems next year will see another face-off: the battle of the Sherlock Holmes movies.

Today the Hollywood Reporter announced that Robert “Iron Man” Downey Jnr has signed on to play Holmes in Guy Ritchie’s version of the movie. Last week saw the announcement of the first Sherlock Holmes revival, starring Borat creator Sacha Baron Cohen playing Holmes with Will Ferrell as Watson. The films will have differing takes on the traditional sleuth. While Ritchie’s film is based on a comic, and explores the more adventurous side of Holmes, Cohen’s Holmes will be playing for laughs.

So who will win? Well, after the hideous Swept Away and dull Revolver, I can’t help but feel that Ritchie is irredeemable. Sure, Downey Jnr is as hot as lava after the huge success of the entertaining Iron Man, but let’s not forget that he’s had more misses than hits in the past. My money is on the comic version. Since Borat Cohen is on a career high, and Ferrell will be an appealing support. Plus, the character of Holmes is so familiar, and the detective genre so exhausted, that it will be hard for a modern audience to take Holmes seriously. Indeed, a Holmes comedy was already made, Without a Clue, starring Michael Caine and Ben Kingsley, and while the premise was amusing (Holmes was a moronic poster-boy for Watson’s true brilliance), the delivery was sub-par. Let’s hope that Cohen and Ferrell can come up with a better film.

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