Film Review: Young Sherlock Holmes

           

**Spoilers**
If you have not yet seen this film, please go and do so before proceeding.

          Whenever describing this film to people, I often say that it is a teen!lock fanfic that somehow got made into a Steven Spielburg movie. But that's not quite fair. Fanfictions tend to have a bad reputation as the (non)brain-children of vapid 13-year-old girls who have just learned to string two words together. Except it's usually more than two words because it's usually a run-on sentence. That's not entirely true, but that is what the connotations are when one hears the term 'fanfiction'.

       And this film is definitely more than those low expectations. On the surface it is just a silly little schoolboy mystery that got slapped with the characters from the Sherlock Holmes universe, but when you look closer you realize that it is a charming and exceedingly geeky tribute to the iconic mysteries. The writer of the script, Chris Columbus, would go on to work on the Harry Potter films, and we can definitely see shades of that dynamic in this film with the school setting, dark adventure, and the trio of Holmes, Watson, and Elizabeth. This movie also holds the distinction of being the first to use Computer Generated Images alongside its practical effects. So shall we dive in to one of my favorite movies of all time and explore it a bit more in depth?



Favorite Moments & Random Thoughts:

- That hallucination that starts the whole film out, though. Love the juxtaposition with the 'God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen' being played peacefully (and cheerfully) over the horrific scene of a gentleman being attacked by his own dinner. In some ways this scene reminds me very much of Scrooge in A Christmas Carol as the gentleman retreats to his chambers in a panic and starts seeing things that can't be there. Unlike Ebenezer, though, poor Mr. Bobster can't take the ghastly images and leaps to his death. Wow. Death by falling in a Sherlock Holmes story. Can't believe my eyes.


- LOVE the musical score from this film. It's right up there with Pirates of the Caribbean and Peter Pan as one of my favorite scores of all time.

- Watson looks like a slightly less scrawny Harry Potter. And take note, everyone, because I think this is the only time (outside of Sherlock) that you will ever hear Holmes play the violin with anything less than finesse.

- And I swear that the guy who does the voice over of older!Watson (can't remember his name) did the voice for a recording of The Tailor of Gloucester.

- Shame Nicholas Rowe never really got a starring role in anything prominent after this because he absolutely KILLS it as Sherlock Holmes. He has down to a pat the coldness and arrogance, but also the heart of the great detective while also playing a much younger and less stoic version of the genius we all know and love.


- "That was a girl!" "Brilliant deduction, Watson."

- So Dudley, the resident blond bully of this school, is henceforth dubbed Not-Draco just for ease of reference. I'm pretty sure that Chris Columbus (the writer of this script) used this as preparation for the days when he would work with the Harry Potter franchise because there are some definite similarities in tone and characters between that series and this film...especially in the trio of Holmes, Watson, and Elizabeth. This came first, though.

- "Elementary, my dear Holmes, elementary." There's SO many gags and references to the original stories (where it was, in fact, Watson who said those words to Holmes) in general contained within this film that it's a veritable treasure trove.

- And we get Holmes fencing...along with a lesson about how one must never put emotion over discipline. Like I said, a lot of references to the original stories.

- The scene in the church is an important one. Not only does it further the mystery of the 'jangling assassin', but it contains the first ever CGI character in a live-action film. Created by none other than the head of Pixar Animation Studio himself, the knight that breaks out of the stained-glass window is an effect that still holds up just about perfectly today.

- Run down by a cab? Awful way to go.

- Not-Draco hides the school fencing trophy and gives Holmes an hour to follow the clues and discover where it is? Bad move, sir. Be ready to scrape egg off your face.

-- It’s good to see that Holmes and Lestrade have always had such an…amiable relationship. “You mean like last week when you thought that the French Ambassador had embezzled over three hundred pounds from the Bank of England?” “I was close! It was the Russian Ambassador.”

- Lestrade is also played by the Dream Lord, for all you Whovians out there.

- Not-Draco gets Holmes expelled with the oldest trick in the book; framing him for cheating.

- And Holmes gets a classic ‘sexy cut cheekbone’ during his last fencing match with the new headmaster he is the favorite of. Remember that. It will be important.

- I love Watson envisioning all the ways he could beat up Not-Draco, but infinitely more hilarious is Holmes spiking Not-Draco’s drink with a failed chemistry experiment. Did it make him hurl?

- So apparently Holmes is living with Mycroft right now? Wonder how that works out for the two of them…?

- Poor Holmes. He really took a beating in this film, both physical and emotional. I do like the line about how Holmes only ever cried in front of Watson twice in their lives together…at Waxflutter’s funeral and one other time. (I think the other time was probably in The Three Garridebs where Watson gets shot.)

- “You’ve both been reading too many detective novels.” You’re a fine one to talk, Watson, considering that you’re going to write a bunch in a few years.

- Love Elizabeth giving Holmes the iconic deerstalker hat. Too funny!

- So this film has Watson smoking and the two boys going into an Egyptian-themed tavern with belly dancers and a less-than-savory owner. Yes. If the hallucinations didn’t clue you in before, now you can be absolutely sure that this isn’t a kids’ film.

- In many ways this film seems like a cross between Harry Potter and Young Indiana Jones, especially once the Egyptian theme gets brought in. Throw in a few deductions, a couple rats, and a bit of catchy chanting and you have the film.

 

- “Well…this is an interesting development.” No sheet, Sherlock.

- What I want to know is why there is a secret passage into the hollow of that goat’s head (or ram or whatever it is). It’s the only thing that confuses me about this film. Seriously. Why are these secret passages built? And why does nobody know about it? And if they do, why don’t they just sit up one day and say: “My Chuck! This is a bad idea! Maybe we should put someone on guard to make sure nobody sneaks down and spies on us.”

- Okay so Elizabeth’s hallucination is pretty creepy, and Watson’s is just messed up (Killer pastries? Seriously?), but Holmes’ is the real kicker. He goes into what appears to be a flashback where he sees his father and mother berating him for something he’s done. It’s not said outright, but heavily implied that his father was having an affair that his mother knew about but didn’t say anything for appearances sake. Until little Sherlock and his big mouth outed the scandal in a way that could no longer be ignored…probably at a dinner party, breaking them apart. It’s also implied that Holmes Senior might have been a bit abusive towards his sons.

- My favorite still has to be Watson’s hallucination, though, with the deceptively cute but extremely creepy pastries that keep cramming themselves down his throat. SO twisted and strange, but so hilarious!

- “A great detective relies on perception, intelligence, and imagination.”

- Arrested and sent to prison? For not leaving school? Ehhh…I think that’s a bit harsh. Even by Victorian standards.

- I love how, during the Holmes/Elizabeth kiss, Watson is just kind of awkwardly hanging up there trying to get through the window. Somehow it just makes that scene hilarious for me.

- “Bloody insect!” Um, dude…it’s WINTER and there’s SNOW ON THE GROUND! I’m quite sure that all stinging insects are asleep or dead. Don’t blame it on bugs!

- And poor Sherlock always is getting strangled. He’s as bad as Sam Winchester!

- Nothing like a cat fight with two ladies in Victorian dress and a tiny dog. And you should never trust anyone with a last name who sounds like ‘wraith’.

- Why did the cut from Rathe’s ring never seem to heal? Was it somehow enchanted? Hmmm. Is THAT why he could hypnotize Elizabeth with it? I thought it had something to do with light.

- “It works, Watson! We’re flying!” Don’t bump into Peter Pan…

- Why did they try and tease us that Holmes might die in the fire? We KNOW he survives and goes on to be equally foolhardy in later cases…so what was the purpose of that? Gave Watson an opportunity to save both Holmes AND Elizabeth, I guess.

- And just when you think it’s over, Elizabeth jumps in front of Holmes and takes a bullet to the gut for him. Prompting Holmes to go after Rathe and get the royal snot beat out of him while Elizabeth bleeds (and Watson gets to play doctor) before Rathe finally falls into the Thames and drowns. Of course Elizabeth dies and Holmes learns the stark lesson about letting emotions cloud his judgement.

- The sword-fight/wrestling match makes for an energy-filled climax, though that is very similar to Hook, now that I think about it. Maybe Spielberg was going through a ‘fencing’ stage.

 

        This is a film that is delightfully melodramatic in places, surprisingly heartfelt in others, and just great fun for anyone fond of the Sherlock Holmes character or just mysteries and great characters in general. There are some definite similarities to the Harry Potter films that Columbus will go on to work on, but it very much has its own identity as well. The characters are fun, the mystery is interesting, and it’s a lot of fun for anyone even slightly familiar with The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. (Also, for anyone who is a fan of the series Sherlock, Moffat and Gatiss took inspiration from this film for at least the first two series’ Holmes brothers’ back-story. Not to mention the fact that, in many shots, Rowe is close to a dead ringer for a younger Benedict Cumberbatch or Jeremy Brett.) Young Sherlock Holmes is a 4/5.

What did you think? Do you agree with my rating? If not - what would you say differently?