From Pete's World: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes (2010)

Every time someone watches this movie, ACD has a seizure in his grave.

Don't confuse me saying that with me saying that it is bad, because that is not at all what I am saying. If we are to define the quality of a movie by it's ability to captivate the audience, then this film is fabulous.

This bastardisation of Sherlock Holmes has many redeeming qualities, and at the top of that list is the cast. Ben Synder plays an excellent Sherlock Holmes in his film debut and Gareth David-Lloyd (Torchwood, Ianto Jones) steals the show as Watson.

Staying true to ACD's canon, the piece is narrated by Watson. In this film, it is that Watson is about to die, and he dictates to a character called Miss Hudson. (In the story he narrates, the housekeeper is a Mrs Hudson, so it is unclear if this woman is her descendant or if he's confused because he is about to die). If I'm not mistaken this Miss Hudson is the same actor who played the girl Casanova told his story to in the David Tennant Casanova. It's a very analogous role.

Beyond here, I won't say anything plot wise. It's really quite a crazy story, involving a kracken, a velociraptor, an ancestor to Iron Man, a pilotable hot-air balloon, and a fire-breathing mechanical dragon who would make Smaug proud. Aside from anything beyond this being a spoiler, it is also to absurd to try to explain.

Overall, I give it 2.5 stars. Most of what is taken away is because the writers treated the iconical characters of Holmes and Watson in a way Sherlockians would call sacrilege, not to mention that they name Sherlock's brother Thorpe. Thorpe. If you're not going to call him Mycroft, okay, fine...but Thorpe? If you're someone who is in to the Sherlock Holmes aray of media, do watch this. If not, watch something else Sherlock first (like BBC's Sherlock or CBS' Elementary): this is definitely not for beginners.

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