My first introductions to the Sherlock Holmes canon were the Jeremy Brett series and this film, Young Sherlock Holmes. Of the two, this film was that one that I responded to more, which makes sense since I was a kid at the time. Before I unintentionally raise the ire of others, I must state I have come to appreciate both equally now.
While it is well documented in the Conan Doyle stories that Holmes and Watson first met as adults, this film portrays them meeting as young men at a British boarding school and their first adventure together. Really, it does make sense that Holmes and Watson met and became friends as kids because everything about their friendship and adventures together felt like the adventures of two guys who never really grew up. No wonder they appeal to me, since I never really did either.
Anyway, this film focuses on the meeting of Holmes (played by Nicholas Rowe) and Watson (played by Alan Cox) at a boarding school in Victorian London and their first adventure together. Watson's previous school had closed due to the lack of funds and he transferred to the new school in the middle of the term. The two quickly become friends as Watson becomes quite enamored of the unique and intriguing Holmes. Rounding out the group is a young girl at the school, Elizabeth (played by Sophie Ward). She is the niece of the former headmaster, Rupert Waxflatter (played by Nigel Stock), who has taken residence in the school's attic and works on various inventions. He has also become a mentor of sorts to Holmes. Elizabeth, being the only girl at the otherwise all boys school, gets plenty of affection from the other boys, but is only interested in Sherlock.
Meanwhile, throughout London there have been a series of seemingly unrelated accidental deaths. Sherlock's interest is piqued when he notices newspaper clipping relating them among Waxflatter's papers in addition to Waxflatter getting a strange visitor and being rushed out the door. Seeing there is a connection between them and his mentor, and perhaps fearing that his mentor may be on the hit list, Sherlock and Watson begin to investigate. They discover that prior to their deaths, each victim had been shot with a poisoned dart from a blowpipe. This poison causes intense nightmare like hallucinations, which caused each victim to inadvertently cause their own death as they tried to escape said hallucinations. Holmes and Watson, along with Elizabeth investigate further to try and find out why these people were killed, who did it and how it all connects together, which leads to quite the adventure.
The film was directed by Barry Levinson from a script by Chris Columbus and produced by Steven Spielberg. This film fits in quite nicely among the other Spielberg produced films of the era concerning young boys having adventures, while also playing to Sherlock Holmes fans as well. Nicholas Rowe is wonderful as Sherlock, showing a younger and more inexperienced Holmes. He already has his finely tuned intellect, but the rest of his well known persona is still in flux and the adventure he has would come to greatly impact how he is as an adult. Alan Cox is likewise a great Watson, showing how he grows as well over the course of their first case together, from a slightly weak willed young man to a far more courageous one by the end, even going so far as saving Sherlock during the climax. Sophie Ward does well, creating an intriguing character that you can see why she could be the only woman Sherlock loved, while also being a strong character on her own and not one content to sit on the sidelines. The film also has some fantastic special effects. The stand out is one of the earliest uses of pure computer animation in a feature film, a stained glass knight come to life in one victim's hallucination, and animated by Pixar no less, in one of the first cinematic uses of CGI.
Perhaps the most curious thing about this movie is certain parallels I couldn't help but draw, even as I was starting to read the books the films were based on before they were even films, to the Harry Potter films, especially the first two or so. I'm sure it's unintentional, but there are distinct similarities between the two. The trio of characters match up remarkably well, Harry/Sherlock, Ron/Watson, Hermoine/Elizabeth, then the other characters such as the school's resident knob Dudley/Draco, Waxflatter/Dumbledore (I can go further, but that would lead to spoilers). I found myself drawing these parallels when I first read the books because really this movie was my cultural touchstone for British Boarding School life. You can probably imagine my bemusement when it was announced Chris Columbus was going to direct the movies, given that he wrote the screenplay for this one (whether or not that eventually turned out to be a good or bad thing is the subject of another review that I will no doubt get to...eventually).
Overall, Young Sherlock Holmes remains one of my all time favorite movies. It's by no means perfect (the voice over narration from an Older Watson can get to be a bit much at times), but it is a consistently entertaining film anchored by a trio of engaging performances, and certainly one that got me into Sherlock Holmes. So, there is that at least.
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