Young Sherlock Might Be The Smartest Origin Story In Years
Guy Ritchie’s Young Sherlock reimagines the story of the iconic detective Sherlock Holmes back in his days as a young Oxford student. There, he becomes entangled in a murder case that becomes more intricate as multiple professors are killed and a larger conspiracy is at play.
Hero Fiennes Tiffin’s portrayal of the young detective is truly delightful at every step. From his witty one-liners to his deep emotional trauma explored later in the series, Tiffin is able to master all those ranges of emotions and make it believable for the character. Given that the series is taking us back to his origin story, fans of the franchise will get a kick out of some familiar characters that appear. There’s future nemesis James Moriarty (Donal Finn), Holmes’ brother Mycroft (Max Irons), and even a callback to the famous “Mind Palace” as experienced in the Benedict Cumberbatch-led films. The series does an amazing job of blending in concepts from the original films while simultaneously giving this series a new voice. We even get to see Sherlock begin to hone in on his detective and fighting skills with a humorous sequence with Moriarty. It’s refreshing to see a period piece with a beloved franchise character at the forefront be stimulating, energetic, and ultimately fun, without clichés.
As a sucker for a classic whodunnit mystery, this series takes that and spins it on its head with many moving parts to the story as Sherlock digs deeper. It’ll definitely keep you on your toes as new clues and secrets are revealed, especially by the end of the fifth episode. The series is also very fast-paced, in a very good way. The high-octane action scenes, particularly performed by Zine Tseng as Chinese princess Gulun Shou-an, measure up to the emotional scenes and make for a well-rounded story.
Tiffin and Natacha McElhone’s mother-son bond on screen is amazing, especially their shared grief over Beatrice. Without spoiling too much, the mystery starts to involve Sherlock’s family. It becomes increasingly distressing for him to trust anyone and it gives us such powerful scenes with Tiffin. He’s able to carry those feelings brilliantly without losing track of the case at hand. Equally so, the relationship between Sherlock and Moriarty is entertaining to watch. Finn’s performance is outstanding as the young, slightly flirtatious genius. It’s so fun watching him and Tiffin with their back-and-forth wise-cracking. That final end scene between them is so perfect, I am now begging for a season two!
Young Sherlock proves to be one of the best reimagined origin stories of a franchise character. Every character, lead or side, carries their own and helps make the story feel real. You’ll find yourself on the adventure with them and wondering what secrets could be hidden. Visually stunning cinematography paired with amazing actors makes for such an enjoyable experience throughout.
Young Sherlock is out now on Prime Video.
