Review of Mr. Holmes (2015) by Johnny T — 22 Nov 2015

Mr. Holmes may not be the biggest or boldest recent updating of Sherlock, but McKellen's performance alone is almost reason enough to see it on the big screen. Sir Ian McKellen is a pleasure to watch as an elderly Sherlock Holmes, though the drama isn't as compelling as it might have been. This is Holmes intentionally slowed down to a hobbling, reflective, end-of-life pace: dare we call it refreshing? It's a film to rummage around in, picking up old clues, considering their meaning, and turning them in your palm. It is an elegant if slight piece of work, touching and intriguing by turns, but hampered structurally in that it relies on two separate flashback sections. Mr. Holmes has moments of palpable regret and loss, but visually speaking, it looks like a blandly touching movie about a lonely old man who befriends a scrappy kid and learns about the magic of storytelling. Eventually, that's the unexciting destiny it fulfills. Unfortunately, director Bill Condon and screenwriter Jeffrey Hatcher are clueless, and come up with an incoherent, implausible, contrived mishmash. Despite a brilliant performance from Sir Ian McKellen, Mr. Holmes is a little too scattered in its plot to leave much of an impact, making you wish that there had been more focus on its intriguing mystery and less on the less satisfying parts of the tale.

VERDICT: "In The Zone" - [Mixed Reaction] These kinds of movies are usually movies that had some good things, but some bad things kept it from being amazing. This rating says buy an ex-rental or a cheap price of the DVD to own. If you consider cinema, ask for people's opinion on the film. (Films that are rated 2.5 or 3 stars).