Being a British icon that is very easily recognized all over the world, Sherlock Holmes has had a strong impact on mystery writing and pop culture as a whole, arguably being labelled as one of the most iconic fictional detectives ever made. A lot of different interpretations including various books, TV shows and films have been made centred around the detective, all varying in success and quality. One that stood out at the time of its release was the 2009 Guy Ritchie film starring Robert Downey Junior as the titular character. It managed to win critics over and did well enough at the box office to warrant a sequel in 2011, but how much an impact on pop culture did this reinvention have on the world? In 1890 London, private detective Sherlock Holmes (played by Robert Downey Junior) and his partner, John Watson (played by Jude Law) are able to stop a ritualistic killing of a woman at the hands of the devious and apparently supernaturally gifted Henry Blackwood (played by Mark Strong), who is also responsible for the death of several other women. After time passes, it appears that Blackwood has risen from the grave after being sentenced to death by hanging, forcing Holmes and Watson, along with assistance from Sherlock’s love interest who also dabbled in criminal activities named Irene Adler (played by Rachel McAdams) to try and uncover the plan behind this menace, learn of the true conspiracy behind Blackwood and his mysterious capabilities, and hopefully save England’s government before it falls to a sinister cult. Clearly showing promise and effort put behind its shining elements, the film as a whole sadly comes off as very confused in its tone, story structure, humor, and style, feeling more like a James Bond spin off with a Sherlock edge, rather than a proper interpretation of the original Arthur Conan Doyle novel series.

The idea of adapting Sherlock into a new era with a new style is a solid idea, as a character with so much iconography is open to interpretation and his stories have room to expand beyond their original presentation. However, there is a proper way of doing that and it’s hard to say the film delivers in that sense. The film suffers from being a bit too long in places, dragging out moments longer than necessary and becoming very repetitive. The story itself doesn’t seem to be directly inspired from a specific Sherlock tale, but a compiled effort of multiple story points jammed into one script handled by Michael Robert Johnson, Anthony Peckham and Simon Kinberg. While the concept of Sherlock trying to solve the supposed survival of a man put on death row through supernatural means feels right for the genre, the execution makes the story is a lot more convoluted and more modernized than it arguably should be. This modern flair is both beneficial and detrimental to the film. On the plus side, it provides a twist for long-time readers to see a classic Sherlock-type mystery through the lens of a more current viewpoint with a tighter edge and popular stars attached, but it also loses a bit of its own identity as a Sherlock story, becoming more like any typical spy action flick all with the same kind of components, with criminal organisation which involving government conspiracies, mysteries that are moreso left for the movie to explain rather than let the audience deduce it for themselves and featuring a much more modern sense of humor and tone that takes away from the old fashion British atmosphere. Despite being a Sherlock Holmes’ story, the film’s mystery isn’t really found out, but rather just randomly revealed with no real twist or reveal, so it doesn’t offer much in terms of surprise or intrigue. The tone is very confused throughout, juggling goofy slapstick and childish arguments with brutal hangings and boiling people alive, which seems to be a side-effect of Guy Ritchie’s direction, whose known for going back and forth between the brutal and the ridiculous on several occasions, but his films usually are time-period appropriate to the kind of atmosphere and mood he creates. This world is grim and harsh, but the comedy doesn’t completely mix with its presentation, becoming incredibly distracting and disjointed. With that said, the writing is made to be very fast and witty, so the actors can play off each other and lend their way to good lines that feel more in-line with the original Arthur Conan Doyle stories.

The characters do feel very much like their respected creations, but with more elements updated to fit a more modern touch. Sherlock is made to feel a little less untouchable in this version, coming across as more vulnerable around others as well as more susceptible to components like quips and unspecific quirks. The film doesn’t offer much in terms of personality or in-depth character outside of the acting, so the characters aren’t really compelling, more just entertaining to watch. They feel very much like cartoon characters, in that they exude a lot of charm and quirky likability while not coming across as very deep. Sherlock is the best character in the movie, being very anti-social and calculating, but also witty and cynical. Robert Downey Junior is the highlight of the film. Only having just made a comeback thanks to Iron Man, while he might be playing a slightly watered-down version of the role, he captures the essence of the character pretty nicely, the accent is quite good, if a bit inconsistent, and he thankfully does stand out of the most in the film, which you’d want in a film about Sherlock. Rachel McAdams does suffer from being a strong independent female character who inevitably must be saved in the end because characters like this often forget that they can fight back, but otherwise the character is fine, albeit a little flat in parts. The villain is laughably forgettable and bland, not bringing anything noticeable or entertaining regarding crime story villains and Mark Strong doesn’t do much to add anything to role either, so it just comes off as underwhelming and not a fitting person to go up against Sherlock. It is fun seeing a Watson that is more capable and even kind of hard-core next to the usually bumbling and second-tire nature that comes from the role, but he isn’t made especially interesting in this, and Jude Law is good in the part, but could be easily replaced by another actor, he doesn’t make it entirely his own. Everyone else in the film is just silly accents and jokes, but they are done passably, and it does help bring a unique style to the film overall that isn’t too distracting.

The music by Hans Zimmer is a great little piece, it has a sound that feels timey and rustic, but also fast-paced, haunting, and slightly crazy. It’s a perfect fit for something like Sherlock Holmes where madness and craziness are reacted to with indifference and collected composure (Zimmer even used an out-of-tune piano to add to the quirkiness). The comedy is very split, where some of the jokes are a little too on-the-nose, childish and mixed in tone. Every once and a while, though there is a joke that does get a decent laugh, particularly in regard to the physical slapstick, which again can feel a little inappropriate for the time period, but it does work within its own reality and can still be appreciated regardless. The locations are very bland in design and in color, leading to some not very visually appealing environments. Even if that was the intent and you can kind of feel the filmmakers and production designer, Sarah Greenwood, going for a more industrial Bohemian feel to some of the film’s aesthetics, they are very forgettable and basic locations that have been seen in various other stories of this kind, so nothing really stands out. The action has some fun ideas with the slow motion with Sherlock calculating the hits before they happen, which does feel like an element that would be distinct to Sherlock and gives the fight scenes their own personal touch, but the scenes are blandly shot and directed, so it instead feels more like breaks before the hits rather than a fun mechanic that could enhance the action. It’s also sloppily put together with quick shots and editing done by James Herbert, making it hard to watch the actual stunts and appreciate the decent choreography going on within these scenes.

Though not being bad enough to halt future explorations which this film did do, Guy Ritchie’s new reinvention strangely doesn’t stand out that much as a film. It lacks personality and relies more on scenarios and mysteries that would work better in cartoons than a real crime drama, which results in a somewhat entertaining, but overall, just passable film. The actors are good, especially Downey Junior, the jokes, when they work, are funny and give the film a quirkier edge, and the music has a lot of fun energy and punchy rhythm. If the character were more than cartoons, the action was more memorable and the mystery was an actual MYSTERY, this could have been better than an underground hit, but the result is basically a steam-punk James Bond style film with a heavy British edge. With a few tweaks and improvements, this could have been a better more engaging film to ponder over, but the end results unfortunately are a bit too elementary.

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