Let's be honest up front. While an actor can transform themselves from role to role, and while Robert Downey Jr. is a great actor, his Tony Stark was really hard to get over for his Sherlock Holmes. And there was the fact that if he wasn't a known Hollywood star, nobody would have cast someone with his look as Holmes. But Guy Ritchie did two fun, terrific movies with RDJ as Sherlock Holmes, and in 2009, we had just endured a very long Sherlockian drought.
So it was great.
But there was definitely a Downey problem.
He had other, bigger movies to make. And director Guy Ritchie had other things to do as well, but one always had to wonder what Ritchie could do with Sherlock Holmes if Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law weren't the famous faces selling tickets.
And now we know.
Young Sherlock on Amazon Prime is one of those lovely cinematic TV series that we get from those streaming services with money to spend. It would look good in a theater. It's based on a book series that, to be honest, I lost interest in fairly quickly, but it's also a Guy Ritchie TV series, and he's put his stamp on it.
Sherlock Holmes is young, but not so young that he doesn't have a beard from months in prison. He starts out in a prison fight, reminding us a bit of RDJ's movie Sherlock, except that this Sherlock is better at dodging and not-fighting in a fight than punching. Sherlock is studying crime from the criminal side, yet is still incredibly clever and full of smarts. And even before the James-Bond-level opening credits, we get a tease of a Holmes coming out of Baker Street . . . who is another Holmes we're always delighted to see. Getting the two Holmes brothers as our opening and introduction to our new, young but not a child, Sherlock Holmes is just a delight.
I'll admit, I haven't watched the second episode yet. And that's because I'm watching the first episode a second time. I tried to take notes during my first watch, as I do with CBS's Watson, but not this show! It's too much fun.
And as much as we hate to see lesser talents parading Mycroft, Moriarty, Lestrade, and company out to make up for their storytelling weaknesses with the big names, Guy Ritchie and company are not lesser talents. Young Sherlock is a delight. A confection for the modern Holmes fan.
As I said, I tried one of the books this show is based on and wasn't a fan. But this first episode pushed Downey's Sherlock Holmes, BBC Sherlock, and every other Sherlock Holmes film or TV tale out of my head while it did its thing. It's Sherlock felt like a Sherlock, and the intriguing characters in the world of Oxford university he was surrounded by were terrific.
This being more Guy Ritchie than Conan Doyle, of course, Sherlock Holmes seems more in danger of becoming a criminal than a detective. But he always was a special fellow in his way, and that he is here. But he is not the only special character here, with young James Moriarty and Princess Gulun Shou'an (whom I hope survives this series), matching his wits in their own ways. I was not expecting to like a young James Moriarty, but Donal Finn creates a fine current friend and future adversary for Sherlock.
Young Sherlock is one of those creations that you didn't know you needed until you have it, and I am very glad we now do.
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