[Dominic Keating; Gareth David-Lloyd; Ben Syder; William Huw; Elizabeth Arends]
Plot: When a mob of massive monsters invades London, only master sleuth Sherlock Holmes and his associate Dr. Watson can save the city. Watson begins to believe that the creatures exist, but Holmes thinks villain Spring-Heeled Jack is behind the attacks. Now, they must track down the master criminal before his plan for world domination comes to fruition in this action-packed mystery.
First off, this is NOT the film released in theaters and starring Robert Downey, Jr. and Jude Law. This is a direct-to-DVD film from Asylum Home Entertainment. I watched this as part of a multi-review led by Jason over at Invasion of the B-Movies.
Okay, with that out of the way, I can tell you that, the characters aside, I don't think you could confuse this film with the other. The acting is okay from some, but the casting for the main role of Sherlock Holmes was way wrong. Syder just doesn't have the confidence or presence to pull of a role of such legendary proportions. This Sherlock sounds immature, unsure and just cannot command a scene with any of his acting partners.
The plot itself is far-fetched, and while I get that it is supposed to be cheesy-fun and not a 'traditional' Holmes story, taken on its own it is still a bit much to swallow. The action scenes are done with a mixture of live and computer action, but never convincingly mixing the two. I can't give much away without revealing too much plot, so I will let it be at that.
However, one scene that particularly annoyed me was set with Watson in a dangerous situation. We know this because of the frequent camera cuts and dramatic music. Except the tension is all for nothing because we know at this point Watson will be fine, since his OLDER SELF OPENS THE MOVIE TO NARRATE THE ENTIRE THING! Gah!
As you can tell, I just didn't like it. Wasn't good, and wasn't bad in a cheesy/guilty-pleasure way either.
Not recommended, unless you are a really committed Sherlock Holmes completist.
I can't believe you watched that turkey all the way through.
ReplyDeleteI usually don't mind those Asylum features but this one was so bad I didn't even bother to review it after I watched it. Was I embarassed? Maybe. It was just so forgettable despite all they crammed into it. Asylum is at the point now that we come to expect crappy CGI. Now they should find a writer with some imagination and go 'full retard' on one of these movies. 'Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus' could have been that movie. I think you and I need to do a version of Jason meets Giant Octopus that will set the world on it's head.
ReplyDeleteugh...this sounds absolutely dreadful...
ReplyDeleteI cant stand any of the Asylum abortions, and despite the promising cover art I am going to have to pass on grass
ReplyDeleteI'll skip it. Sometimes the "cheapy" competitor is good (see the Patrick Bergen Robin Hood, and sometimes they suck. I'm assuming this one sucks.
ReplyDelete