SHERLOCK HOLMES (2010)

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes (2010)

This is the NOT the movie with Robert Downey Jr. This is a cheap straight-to-dvd movie made by Asylum to capitolize on the success of that other Holmes movie. The funny thing is...I think I actually liked this movie more!

The story: there are monsters loose in London! It's 1882 and Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson are trying to track down stories of monsters attacking people in London. It leads them to man known as Spring-Heeled Jack, whom both Holmes and Inspector Lestrade know and who has a plan to kill the queen while the monsters attack London.

Hmm...not your typical Sherlock Holmes story. It's hard to take the combination of dinosaurs and Holmes together (although it's explained in the movie and is in fact the cornerstone to the great plot Sherlock uncovers). Still, what I liked about this movie is that it felt much closer to the Sherlock Holmes I imagined when I read the books, as opposed to the Downey Jr version which felt more like a buffoon than an intellect, not to mention those stupid boxing scenes which were the exact opposite of the classic Holmes story. And while the fantastic element of dinosaurs feels weird, this for me was in fact a better dective story than the other one.

The dinosaurs and the plot to kill the queen...well, it is somewhat campy but it was campy in a fun, good natured way that made it easy for me to accept. In fact, the plot to kill the queen and the burning of London reminded me a lot of the plot in LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN (the book, which was amazing, not the movie which was crap).

Now, this version doesn't have the caliber of actor of Robert Downey Jr, who really is one of the most interesting actors in the world. And it doesn't have the budget for the f/x's or look for the other version. Still, this movie had an intelligence and charm the other movie completely lacked. Most of the cheap Asylum movies are horrible (like their PRINCESS OF MARS movie...yuck!), but I have to admit to really liking this one.

*** RECOMMEND ***

More B-movie fun: Tremors, Eight Legged Freaks, Arachnaphobia, Escape from New York, Big Trouble in Little China, Little Shop of Horrors (with Rick Moranis and Bill Murray), Honey I Shrunk the Kids.