This movie is ripe for a complete giggle, (cause who doesn't love giant mechanical Velociraptors running murderously amok in Victorian England) I HIGHLY suggest this very camp movie. It features Gareth David-Lloyd (Ianto on Torchwood) playing a very long-suffering Watson. The actor playing Holmes (Ben Syder), couldn't act his way out of a wet paper sack in the beginning. But that awkwardness actually worked for this production. Ben had all the introductory charm and skill of Zooey Deschanel in part 1 of "Tin Man" (WHich is to say he had none at all) But he eventually warmed into the silliest, most foible ridden and yet valiant version of Holmes. And I came to really like him in the role--delicate, skinny thing that he is. (Really, do men actually have bones that tiny!!!!) It was a shocker at first. Ben Syder walks in as Holmes, and you think "He's got the nose, he's got the thin build." But then Ben opens his mouth on screen for the first time and I was like "Oh Noes! Holmes must have lost his testicles in a freak lab accident!"
All the same, there's many reasons to love this movie--not the least of which is that one just can't seem to not laugh... HARD! In the end, it was truly Wonderful stuff! The plot(lessness) was such steampunk hilarity that it is truly a 'must see' for a lighthearted Holmesian experience. (A creepy mechanical nurse, an evil Thorpe Holmes(read Mycroft)--that is worse than Moriarty could ever be, and a poor, unfortunate LeStrade bound intractably to Thorpe!Mycroft's terrible past finish out this amazingly weird, quirky jaunt into utter spoofery.)
Did I mention the "sort of" durigible, the steam-driven dragon, the "maybe" Kraken, the convenient castle with the laboratory, the mechanical suit of armor, the highly improbable (yet perfectly delicious)science, the six pence whore, and lots of explosions? This movie was obviously made by dedicated fans of Sherlock Holmes who were also on the shallow end of the Steampunk pool. They had more budget than they deserved and less than they needed and I hug my copy of this riotous mess of a movie every week. I love it!
The horrid effects aren't that horrid when you look back at movies of the past. We're just a bit spoiled on big budget CGI these days.
Just be prepared to hand over your willing suspension of disbelief to one of Scotland Yard's finest to stuff in a bag and beat to death with a stick. You'll be fine.
All the same, there's many reasons to love this movie--not the least of which is that one just can't seem to not laugh... HARD! In the end, it was truly Wonderful stuff! The plot(lessness) was such steampunk hilarity that it is truly a 'must see' for a lighthearted Holmesian experience. (A creepy mechanical nurse, an evil Thorpe Holmes(read Mycroft)--that is worse than Moriarty could ever be, and a poor, unfortunate LeStrade bound intractably to Thorpe!Mycroft's terrible past finish out this amazingly weird, quirky jaunt into utter spoofery.)
Did I mention the "sort of" durigible, the steam-driven dragon, the "maybe" Kraken, the convenient castle with the laboratory, the mechanical suit of armor, the highly improbable (yet perfectly delicious)science, the six pence whore, and lots of explosions? This movie was obviously made by dedicated fans of Sherlock Holmes who were also on the shallow end of the Steampunk pool. They had more budget than they deserved and less than they needed and I hug my copy of this riotous mess of a movie every week. I love it!
The horrid effects aren't that horrid when you look back at movies of the past. We're just a bit spoiled on big budget CGI these days.
Just be prepared to hand over your willing suspension of disbelief to one of Scotland Yard's finest to stuff in a bag and beat to death with a stick. You'll be fine.