A fast and furious modern version of Sherlock Holmes

Rating: 7/10 (28 July 2019)

One can't help but enjoy the performance of Robert Downey, Jr. in this film. His persona, with all its quirkiness, is funny and entertaining. But the idea that he could be the Sherlock Holmes of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's day and writing is a far stretch. The inclusion of Jude Law as Dr. John Watson adds greatly to the plot and enjoyment. Although he's a counter-character to Holmes, he's also adept at crime-solving, shooting and fighting. Of course, all of the latter is mostly out of character of the "real" Holmes and Watson. For, their brains, cunning and sleuthing were the modus operandi of the original characters.
After seeing this film on its release in theaters, I watched it again recently on DVD. It occurred to me that the device used in this film - of short stops in the story with explanations by Holmes almost as afterthoughts, might have been intended to inform (and thereby, better entertain) a modern audience that otherwise wouldn't have grasped the perception that Holmes had for small details. In reading Doyle's stories, one knows Holmes' uncanny deductions from the smallest of details. And in earlier and old-time films, audiences understood this after some comment on details by Holmes. But this modern film seems to have to make the many small details clear as a significant part of the story. After a bit, that seems childish and silly.
One other observation is important to note, I think. All of the CGI and high definition filming in this story makes the setting seem unreal - as if created for stage or film. I get the sense of something being unreal often with CGI. But here, the sharp detail and contrasts of black and white in street scenes gives them the appearance of being lifted off the pages of comic books.
While I found this film entertaining, it seems something of a letdown in story telling today. Hollywood apparently has to add lots of action in the form of fights, brawling, chases and conflagrations, in order to appeal to modern audiences -- even with classical and historical characters and stories. It's too bad, because with such modernizing of stories, I think the public loses out on the educational aspects of grasping the people, places, cultures and conditions of times past.
This is a fast and furious modern version of Sherlock Holmes. For those who enjoy mysteries in more realistic portrayals and conditions, I heartily recommend the wonderful series of TV films of the 1980s and 1990s that starred Jeremy Brett as Holmes and Edward Hardwicke as Dr. Watson.
Here are a couple favorite lines from this film.
Sherlock Holmes, "It's a matter of professional integrity. No girl wants to marry a doctor who can't tell if a man's dead or not."
Sherlock Holmes, after taking a deep breath, "Ah, putrefication!" (sic)