"Sherlock Gnomes" Movie Review

Sherlock Gnomes was a decent family animated film that offers some good lessons for the young ones to learn. The problem lies with the film's villain, its predictability, and its comedic choices.

The film follows Sherlock Gnomes and his partner Watson as they take on a case where all of London's garden gnomes have gone missing. Gnomeo and Juliet assist in the investigation after their own friends and family are taken as well.

For starters, I have to say I loved the music throughout the film. Most of the songs were by Elton John. The score was even based on Elton John's music. It added a fun flair to the movie, however, I do need to say I was shocked to hear "The Bitch is Back" playing in one scene. Not exactly kid-level material. Seemingly as a trade for his music being used in the film, Elton had his own gnome just as a fun little Easter Egg for the fans.

I also loved all the references to Sherlock Holmes lore. From the Hound of the Baskervilles (The Baskervilles' hound) to Watson to Irene to Moriarty, the film was filled with sly references and Easter Eggs that play on the original Holmes stories. It was a long-time Holmes fan's delight.

The comedic choices were a bit iffy. There were a couple adult jokes that will go over kids' heads. Aside from that, the comedy was decent and flowed well with the film, even though the humor wasn't quite as good as the first.

I didn't understand why live humans were mixed in with animated humans. It was highly unnecessary and just made the editing look sloppy. There was simply no need for the merge, especially considering the animation style.

The biggest problem with the film was the villain. For a film that paid homage to Sherlock Holmes and emulated him perfectly, it made Moriarty out to be an idiotic bimbo rather than a calculating genius. Having a good villain compliments the hero because the mind games between the two become exciting. The way Moriarty was played in this film was more of an insult to Sherlock, both in this film and in the stories.

In conclusion, I did enjoy the film. It keeps the interest of both kids and adults and offers a fun adventure with smart lessons. Despite its flaws, it is only slightly lesser than the first but still keeps the heart the first had. I give the film a 2.5 out of 4.