Nonureva Really Surprised!

Teringer An Exercise In Nonsense

Lollivan It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Aneesa Wardle The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

TheLittleSongbird Am a huge fan of Sherlock Holmes and get a lot of enjoyment out of Arthur Conan Doyle's stories. Also love Basil Rathbone's and especially Jeremy Brett's interpretations to death. So would naturally see any Sherlock Holmes adaptation that comes my way, regardless of its reception.Moreover, interest in seeing early films based on Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories and wanting to see as many adaptations of any Sherlock Holmes stories as possible sparked my interest in seeing 'Young Sherlock Holmes'. Thought that with such great talent on board in front of and behind the camera that it couldn't fail.Fail 'Young Sherlock Holmes' does not. It is not perfect and is not quite great, but it is hugely entertaining and hard to dislike. It is not one of the all-time Holmes adaptations or one of the worst (nothing's worse than Peter Cook's/Dudley Moore's 'The Hound of the Baskervilles'), and of the Sherlock Holmes films seen recently it is along with 'The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes' the best. It may not be Conan Doyle, and how Holmes and Watson meet here is contradictory to 'A Study in Scarlet', but as a standalone it delivers on the entertainment value.'Young Sherlock Holmes' can get pretty silly at times, with the last act being over-the-top nonsense and in a way that is not in keeping with the rest of the story, which took a fun and light-hearted approach often but never to extremes. There are times where it does feel like it was trying to do too much.Also found a few cast members to be on the hammy side, Freddie Jones goes overboard a bit. Otherwise there is not an awful lot to dislike about 'Young Sherlock Holmes'. It still holds up as a great looking film, it is beautifully and atmospherically shot but the stars are the set design for Baker Street and the imaginative special effects (the knight is a standout). The direction is efficient and at ease with the material on the most part. Bruce Broughton's music score is like a character of its own and adds so much character to the film. The writing is playful and witty while also intelligent and thought-provoking. The story throughout goes at a lively pace and is so much fun to watch, with a mystery that intrigues hugely. There are even some wonderfully strange moments, Watson's hallucination is one of the most bizarre on film but it's great fun to watch and imaginatively handled.Nicholas Rowe displays much charisma as Holmes, with even in youth shades of the detective's iconic character traits. Alan Cox is a loyal and amusing Watson and the chemistry between them is charming. Sophie Ward exudes charm and class and Anthony Higgins has a whale of a time. In summary, not great or perfect but a huge amount of fun. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Leofwine_draca Not a bad film per se, YOUNG SHERLOCK HOLMES has absolutely nothing to do with the writings of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It's instead an American fantasy adventure film that imagines Holmes and Watson in their youthful days at boarding school, where they encounter a sinister Egyptian death cult and must battle to save their loved ones. The film is set in England with that loving depiction of the country that only exists in Hollywood. Of course, in the literary Holmes world, the two characters didn't meet until middle age, so it's best to take the entire thing with a pinch of salt.This is also one of those films that makes no effort to characterise Holmes as a detective either; instead he's a fencing whiz here, an action hero full of intrepidness and courage. Aside from his token introductory scene he does none of his famous detection. Watson is even further away from his literary depiction and the writers of this forget that he was a war hero, instead depicting him as a slightly pudgy, food-loving goofball. I found the actors below par and uninspiring, although at least there are a few distinguished faces in support.The plot is quite ridiculous although it does act as a template for plenty of outlandish moments and action scenes. The use of drugs to cause hallucinations allows for a series of fantasy set-pieces involving a stained glass knight coming to life as well as characters attacked by miniature monsters and the like. The effects are a mix of early CGI and stop motion. Spielberg acted as executive producer and his fingerprints are all over this, with enduring sentimentality and scenes copied from GREMLINS, E.T., and most notably INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM. Interestingly, the screenplay was written by Chris Columbus, who used this as a huge inspiration for HARRY POTTER AND THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE, particularly the look and character of Watson which is near identical to Daniel Radcliffe's Harry in that film.

thisseatofmars Young Sherlock Holmes is a great looking movie. Everything about its Victorian aesthetic, snow-covered burgs, golden-lit night scenes bleed with charm. Some characters are wonderful looking too, specifically the one-eyed man who sells Watson Holmes' stock calabash pipe.Not everything is super hot, though. The scene where Sherlock and Watson go to the exotic tavern with all of the Arab and Asian stereotypes is pretty cartoonish-- the informant they meet there wouldn't look out of place as a live-action villain from Team America: World Police ("durka durka" faux-language for sure) and the music couldn't be more fanciful if it tried. Plus, the filmmakers tried wedging in too many Sherlock-y elements: Sherlock says "the game is a foot" one time too many, and we never really needed to know where Sherlock got his patronizing catchphrase, "Dyno-mite!" (Wait, sorry-- I mean, "Elementary.") Standout scenes/rich images are the stained glass hallucination, the attic setting, the meal hall at night, the labs, and the pyramid. I'll be returning to this film not so much for the plot, but to drink in its visual display.

bkoganbing The youngest screen version of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson is in this winning film directed by Barry Levinson for Paramount back in 1985. Watching Nicholas Rowe as a teenage Holmes develop both detective's wits and style I don't think he would have grown up to be Basil Rathbone or Arthur Wontner. But I could sure see a young Jeremy Brett in his interpretation of the role.Long before they lived at 221B Baker Street and long before Dr. Watson did his army service in the Afghan War, Holmes and Watson met at your typical English public school, the kind of place that Tom Brown and Flashman went to back in the day.Some strange things are happening as a series of unexplained deaths of some fairly prominent people. No one is calling them homicides, but young Rowe is suspicious. And he becomes truly involved when his mentor at the school Nigel Stock is killed.It all traces back sadly to an ancient Egyptian cult and a drug that they induce by blowgun which causes hallucinations. And the source of it is very close to home. We also learn why Sherlock Holmes became a confirmed bachelor. In his youth he had the typical teenage hormones and they went in the direction of Sarah Ward, niece of the man who was his mentor. More I won't say.Young Sherlock Holmes received an Oscar nomination for Visual Effects and it's a delightful movie for the family and offers yet another interpretation of the character of the most famous sleuth of all.