A little too modern

Rating: 4/10 (13 December 2017)

While there have been countless film and television portrayals of Sherlock Holmes and his assistant Dr. Watson, the whodunnit genre is never one that audiences tire of, so why not continue to make them? Robert Downey Jr. stars as the famed literary detective, with Jude Law at his side. When I first heard of this film's production, I learned the cast and thought, "Oh, Jude Law will make a great Sherlock Holmes!" But, as is sometimes the case, Michael Robert Johnson, Anthony Peckham, and Simon Kinberg's script wrote Holmes to be the eccentric one with Watson as the straight man. Thus, Jude Law took second billing and saved his talent for later.
Robert Downey Jr. already proved his flawless British accent in Chaplin, so it's no stretch to see him blend into his surroundings. However, he's one of those love-him-or-leave-him actors, and this movie probably won't change the opinion you already have of him. If you think he's talented, handsome, and funny, you'll like Sherlock Holmes. If you think he's overrated and emits an ego larger than his talent, you won't like it.
Director Guy Ritchie added an extra technical difference to his film, one that's also a love-it-or-leave-it feature. In the many action scenes throughout the film-this isn't a wordy mystery, it's an action-comedy-the footage is slowed down at random moments, showing details that would normally be impossible to spot. Someone throws a punch, and the camera shows the ripple of skin when contact is made, the expectorate from the injured man's mouth, and the low groan of pain to coincide with the slowed down footage. I found it a little too modern and jarring; I would have preferred every aspect to fit with the time period.