YOUNG SHERLOCK HOLMES (1985)
Tagline: Before a lifetime of adventure, they lived the adventure of a lifetime.
(Mystery, Adventure, Things That Go Bump In The Night) [PG-13]
Note: This movie was also called YOUNG SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE PYRAMID OF FEAR.
Neither of their deaths fit their personalities. According to his obituary, Bobster was a happy man, content with his life, his career, his family. Why would he commit suicide? He didn't even leave a note. And Reverend Nesbitt is described by friends as "warm, loving, peaceful". And yet the carriage driver insists that he was crazed, insane, in a state of panic when he ran out into the street.
In this story, we are taken back to December 1870 when various people are having inexplicable bouts with hallucinations leading to them freaking out and dying. Troubled by the fluctuation in behavior between the lives and deaths of the victims, a teenage Sherlock Holmes and his new friend Watson decide to investigate what might be happening.
I am kind of wondering if people that hadn’t been exposed to Sherlock Holmes, or disliked this because of Holmes himself? It’s one thing to have a character that is an adult with an almost annoying knowledge of everything, but when the character is young, it can come across as borderline ridiculous to some. Maybe in the 80s people weren’t ready for that, because that attitude certainly seemed to be missing when HARRY POTTER came out and we got Hermione Granger who was basically the Sherlock Holmes of the franchise. In any regard, this movie barely made back what it cost to make at the box office. Part of this might have had to do with the decent amount of visual effects needed for the storyline. The movie even features the first theatrical CGI character at around the 23-minute mark but is loaded with effects throughout.
Cinematically there are some pretty fantastic angles used in this. Lots of over-the-top "at an angle" shots, and a number of shots where the camera is at a 45-degree angle. It’s pretty cool stuff overall. Probably best known for RAIN MAN, Director Barry Levinson definitely gave us some interesting visuals and was able to draw out some great performances in this thing.
When it comes to the acting we get some solid performances. Nicholas Rowe is only his second film and does a great job as Sherlock Holmes. Ironically he would return to the role in 2015 in a completely unrelated film called MR. HOLMES. Alan Cox (THE AUTEUR THEORY) is very good in the role of Watson. I thought both Rowe and Cox played well off each other. Sophie Ward (RETURN TO OZ) has a less pronounced role as Elizabeth Hardy but she is also more than adequate here.
In one scene Watson has a hallucination where food comes to life and starts attacking him. It’s a bit whimsical for this film and offers an interesting change-up, but it also sticks out like a sore thumb. The other thing that sticks out like a sore thumb is the wildly out-of-control final act. It’s basically like INDIANA JONES and HARRY POTTER had a baby in ancient Egypt. I don’t know if any of this was a huge problem for me or even bad, but the fact that we are given so little to get emotionally attached to these characters is. They are likable, but there just isn’t that emotional push that would have bumped this thing up a notch.
Overall this thing is decent, but I like nearly every other version of Sherlock Holmes better and that is probably why this didn’t turn into a series. This one gets a 4 out of 7, but just given the source material and a few tweaks, should have been an easy 6 out of 7.
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