I didn't say anything about slash improving the story or not, it's a dynamic. Holmes and Watson as a dynamic were superb and the ambiguity was what made it awesome (you should note that there were Greek nude statues in Holmes and Watson's windows... anatomy for Watson? Maybe. A clue into them being part of the aesthetic movement? Also a possibility...)

Ummm, fights are what Guy Ritchie does. The whole non-chronological story telling, sharp camera angles and re-showing scenes (from a different perspective) they're all signatures of Ritchie and the we see his detection skills in him retrospective the case - the fights are the cool factor - and there was plenty CSI (didn't see any House there, I wasn't irritated by Watson and Holmes wasn't utterly obnoxious).

Agreed on the franchise thing!