Inasmuch as I contribute to IMDb, it makes sense that I also rely on it.
So prior to buying a ticket I checked the IMDb reviews. They were universally positive. They were also astonishingly short-sighted.
First, this is not truly a Holmes tale in any sense of the word. I have read all the original stories (back when reading was fashionable) -- some more than once -- and seen almost every screen/TV adaptation to the present.
My faves are Basil Rathbone, the Moffatt series (each more an elaborate stage play than a TV show) and the bizarre but hypnotic US re-imagining with Lucy Liu as history's most photogenic Watson.
Which if nothing else shows how flexible the Holmes tale is.
Or at least was.
Here they pushed the Holmes myth further than any writer ever has and in my view, they broke it.
This is not Holmes vs. a killer, this is Holmes vs. Old Age. (Arguably the most potent killer of all time, but still not proper fodder for a detective story.) Yes yes, the acting is wonderful (Linney is under-rated, in fact) and the scenery is wonderful .... yada yada yada.
All this not only ignores the "false expectations" that are raised in the premise but also overlooks how depressing this is to anyone of advanced years.
Which then creates the paradox. Only a moviegoer of advanced years would want to take the time see Ian McKellen in this role -- younger viewers are lining up for Ant-Man and MI -- and yet this target audience is also the most likely to leave the theatre looking for the nearest bridge on which to practice their hi-diving skills.
You have been warned.
So prior to buying a ticket I checked the IMDb reviews. They were universally positive. They were also astonishingly short-sighted.
First, this is not truly a Holmes tale in any sense of the word. I have read all the original stories (back when reading was fashionable) -- some more than once -- and seen almost every screen/TV adaptation to the present.
My faves are Basil Rathbone, the Moffatt series (each more an elaborate stage play than a TV show) and the bizarre but hypnotic US re-imagining with Lucy Liu as history's most photogenic Watson.
Which if nothing else shows how flexible the Holmes tale is.
Or at least was.
Here they pushed the Holmes myth further than any writer ever has and in my view, they broke it.
This is not Holmes vs. a killer, this is Holmes vs. Old Age. (Arguably the most potent killer of all time, but still not proper fodder for a detective story.) Yes yes, the acting is wonderful (Linney is under-rated, in fact) and the scenery is wonderful .... yada yada yada.
All this not only ignores the "false expectations" that are raised in the premise but also overlooks how depressing this is to anyone of advanced years.
Which then creates the paradox. Only a moviegoer of advanced years would want to take the time see Ian McKellen in this role -- younger viewers are lining up for Ant-Man and MI -- and yet this target audience is also the most likely to leave the theatre looking for the nearest bridge on which to practice their hi-diving skills.
You have been warned.