For film buffs, there is only one reason to see Young Sherlock Holmes it has the first photo realistic CGI creature in film. A hallucinating priest sees a stained glass knight jump out of a church window and march towards him, sword raised and ready to swing. The knight only has about ten seconds of screen time but he is a major step forward in visual effects. I am certain that films geeks will appreciate this. For those who are not film geeks, Young Sherlock Holmes has some entertainment to offer, but not enough to make it a good movie.
The first 30 minutes of Young Sherlock Holmes are fine. It gives us a charming and pleasant introduction to a teenage Holmes and how he meets John Watson. We are also introduced to Elisabeth, Holmes' love interest. There are some laughs to be and some shocks which are generated by an array fun-disgusting special effects. During this part of the movie, the filmmakers take time to set up the premise of the mystery that Holmes and his buddies must solve. When the journey gets underway however, Young Sherlock Holmes takes a nosedive. The story becomes silly and unrealistic, and it resort to clichés and badly choreographed action sequences. Holmes loses most of his charm and wit and he gets rather tiring. Watson ends up doing more complaining than he does thinking, and Elisabeth becomes almost literally brain dead. The climax is weak, and the ending is even weaker.
A secondary problem with the movie, is how inaccurate its portrayal of Victorian England is. For the majority of people, this will probably go unnoticed, but for historians, Young Sherlock Holmes will be a pain to watch.
The movie has a clever premise, as well as some quirky and charming moments, but it misses the mark in it's attempt to be what it tries to be, a enjoyable little adventure for a general audience. The only thing in Young Sherlock Holmes that cannot be found in any other movie is the knight.
The first 30 minutes of Young Sherlock Holmes are fine. It gives us a charming and pleasant introduction to a teenage Holmes and how he meets John Watson. We are also introduced to Elisabeth, Holmes' love interest. There are some laughs to be and some shocks which are generated by an array fun-disgusting special effects. During this part of the movie, the filmmakers take time to set up the premise of the mystery that Holmes and his buddies must solve. When the journey gets underway however, Young Sherlock Holmes takes a nosedive. The story becomes silly and unrealistic, and it resort to clichés and badly choreographed action sequences. Holmes loses most of his charm and wit and he gets rather tiring. Watson ends up doing more complaining than he does thinking, and Elisabeth becomes almost literally brain dead. The climax is weak, and the ending is even weaker.
A secondary problem with the movie, is how inaccurate its portrayal of Victorian England is. For the majority of people, this will probably go unnoticed, but for historians, Young Sherlock Holmes will be a pain to watch.
The movie has a clever premise, as well as some quirky and charming moments, but it misses the mark in it's attempt to be what it tries to be, a enjoyable little adventure for a general audience. The only thing in Young Sherlock Holmes that cannot be found in any other movie is the knight.