When this Steven Spielberg produced effort came out in 1985, it came and it went fairly quickly. I missed it entirely and this is a movie that would have been right up my alley. It just goes to show that the name of Steven Spielberg doesn’t always mean gold at the box office although officially the film was not directed by him it was directed Barry Levinson (RAIN MAN).
Having recently watched it for the first time, I am astonished at how much it resembles the early HARRY POTTER films. On closer examination this comes as no surprise as YOUNG SHERLOCK HOLMES was written by Chris Columbus who directed the first two Potter outings. The costumes, the photography, the settings are all strikingly similar and this has to be more than coincidence.
Fans of Sherlock Holmes should find the clever plot about mysterious murders engaging while fans of Harry Potter will find marked similarities to Harry’s environment at Hogwarts and Diagon Alley. Alex Cox who plays young Watson looks somewhat like Harry even down to the glasses. While there are certain similarities to INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM, YOUNG SHERLOCK HOLMES can stand on it’s own and deserves to be better known.
The Capsule Critic 