There have been at least 1830234901 different Sherlock Holmes movies (give or take) and some of them take a VERY fanciful approach--such as "Young Sherlock Holmes" and "The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes" (where Holmes is gay). So, the notion of a Holmes story where the emphasis is on his helpers, the Baker Street Irregulars, isn't so ridiculous and I could have enjoyed such a story. But, unfortunately, like too many Holmes films, I really don't think the writers knew the source material well enough to craft a good tale. In fact, in some ways, it stinks.
The film begins with one of the Irregulars either being killed or captured (this isn't certain). At around the same time, Holmes is working on a case involving jade spoons--and he fails to act when he is told of the boy's disappearance by his anachronistic sister. This comes to bite him in the butt, as the two problems end up being interrelated AND the dumb police detective arrests Holmes for the crime! Then, COMPLETELY OUT OF THE BLUE, Holmes announces to the Irregulars that he knows who is behind all this--Irene Adler, the woman who defeated him in the classic story "A Scandal in Bohemia". There is a problem with this, though, as the Adler in the film and the story are nothing alike. Adler in the story was NOT a criminal nor did she hold any grudge towards Holmes. In fact, it did make me wonder if the writer of the film had even read "A Scandal in Bohemia"! And, on top of that, the Irregulars behave nothing like these kids in the Holmes stories. In the stories, they are Holmes' eyes and ears. Here, however, they are like a combination of Wee Pals (they are SO politically correct--but nothing like 19th century kids) and Encyclopedia Brown!! Utter rubbish all around if you ask me--or any other person who adores the Conan Doyle stories. My advice is that this is only for kids or those who don't particularly like the original stories (but who could that be?!).
Little did I realize that having Jonathan Pryce playing Holmes would be the least of my problems with this film.
The film begins with one of the Irregulars either being killed or captured (this isn't certain). At around the same time, Holmes is working on a case involving jade spoons--and he fails to act when he is told of the boy's disappearance by his anachronistic sister. This comes to bite him in the butt, as the two problems end up being interrelated AND the dumb police detective arrests Holmes for the crime! Then, COMPLETELY OUT OF THE BLUE, Holmes announces to the Irregulars that he knows who is behind all this--Irene Adler, the woman who defeated him in the classic story "A Scandal in Bohemia". There is a problem with this, though, as the Adler in the film and the story are nothing alike. Adler in the story was NOT a criminal nor did she hold any grudge towards Holmes. In fact, it did make me wonder if the writer of the film had even read "A Scandal in Bohemia"! And, on top of that, the Irregulars behave nothing like these kids in the Holmes stories. In the stories, they are Holmes' eyes and ears. Here, however, they are like a combination of Wee Pals (they are SO politically correct--but nothing like 19th century kids) and Encyclopedia Brown!! Utter rubbish all around if you ask me--or any other person who adores the Conan Doyle stories. My advice is that this is only for kids or those who don't particularly like the original stories (but who could that be?!).
Little did I realize that having Jonathan Pryce playing Holmes would be the least of my problems with this film.