Mr. Holmes (2015)

Film Perfection

Best movie of this year hands down!

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

What a load of incomprehensible claptrap! Ian McKellen is a very good actor but this was full of very good actors that were not even given one minutes screen time. It is hailed as the mystery of his last case - what last case? There was no mystery as to what happened. And as for Holmes visiting a remarkable undamaged Nagasaki only two years after the atomic bomb - what? In fact you could have cut the whole Japanese content and made not a jot of difference to the film. This was just a shabby attempt to lure people using the Sherlock Holmes angle, and it turned into a maudlin heap of nothing.

Quite a good story, a little slow at times. The acting is in the most part superb. The story less so. Frustrating that the Japanese scenes resemble China rather than Japan; they are completely different cultures. The prickly ash is not a rare herb but is everywhere in Japan, and in most gardens ... to be "discovered" in the ashes of Hiroshima is quite a ludicrous deviation. It is also common in north America. Well, don't let the facts get in the way of a good story ?

I was searching for a little bit different. Ian is a great actor. Perfect the part of a 93 year old Sherlock Holmes. Using natural remedies, notes, to keep track of what he needs to know. This is a great lesson in dealing with aging, when you can't quite do what you used to be able to do. He is dealing with several things, multi-tasking, and retreats to his farm. There he takes a young boy under his wing, and is inspired by and mentoring at the same time. Ian and Milo are both exceptional;they aren't acting they are BEING their characters. I deduce that mentoring took place off screen as well as on. The twists, turns, sub plot with the mother, te bees, all makes for a compelling story.

This was a very enjoyable film, and one that brings back the Holmes character for other reasons than to play around with his powers of deduction. And the times it references to tropes and plots from Holmes books, it's not made a big deal of. Instead, this is an exploration of some very human themes and emotions, using a familiar character as a tool to explore these.Ian McKellen is, as always, exceptional at being tender and intense at the same time. The make up is spot on, and aided by his acting you can clearly tell when each scene is set. The supporting cast also does a great job.The highlight of the movie is the way it explores human connection, growing old and memories in a sad, but warm way. The sentimentality does not feel forced, and you can relate to the characters on a pure human level.The "mystery" never gets all that interesting, and while it is in no way the center of the movie, it's still given enough time for it to be a bit more interesting than it is. But the movie still works well.