What if Sir Arthur Conan Doyle created a story where Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson met as adolescents? What if he made it a very suspenseful mystery that explanied may of the great sleuth's character traits and stylistic characterisics? What if...well, he did not, but screenwriter Chris Columbus, director Barry Levinson, and producer Steven Spielberg do bring us a fine film that does these things called Young Sherlock Holmes. Young Sherlock Holmes is the meeting of fantasy film and classic literature, and it is a meeting that coexists very nicely. The great detective meets his future colleague and friend Dr. Watson in a London prep school amidst the mystery of what six men did many years ago in Egypt. Several of the men begin to die in horrible, inexplicable ways, and the young Holmes suspects mischief. The film is a veritable treasure trove of Sherlock Holmes allusions. The film is fast-paced, fun, fantastical, and creates insights into why Holmes developed emotionally the way he did. Nicholas Rowe does a superb job playing Holmes, bringing to the role intelligence as well as compassion. Alan Cox does an equally good job playing his young sidekick and doctor to be. The special effects are first-rate, yet in no way detract from the Victorian world of Doyle and Holmes and Watson. Start watching and it will not be long before you'll be saying, "The game is afoot!"
