Not sure about spoilers, but never hurts to be safe.<br /><br />Despite being a very big Sherlock Holmes fan, I try to be open minded about different interpretations, even if it's something I haven't thought of, especially so, in fact, if the actor plays it well enough. Admittedly it is fairly difficult to do so with adaptations books, as they give more detail and solidity to the character that's difficult to take different ways. Even so, there can be different interpretations, but this one was no where near Holmes at all.<br /><br />I love the old 1984 series with Jeremy Brett, which I'm sure a lot of other Holmes fanatics also enjoy. The only problem I had with Jeremy Brett (and his Watson, for that matter) were their voices, which I couldn't quite fit into the tone I used to read in the books. But in all other instances, I adored Jeremy Brett and both David Burke and Edward Hardwicke for their performances, since I take also take Watson to scrupulous account ever since Nigel Bruce.<br /><br />It seems the case is exactly the opposite for Mr. Everett here. To me he appears good in word and physical accuracy, but completely wrong with personality. And given the choice between which to be more accurate to, appearance or personality, I would choose personality, hands down. But it seems like they went for appearance here and I found that extremely annoying. All the time I was watching I didn't recognise the Holmes I saw on the screen, indeed, for the first ten minutes, I assumed Holmes was some other man to further the story along, until Watson followed him and called him by name. This wasn't the Holmes I read when I was seven, just like Nigel Bruce was in no way the Watson I had adored also.<br /><br />The obvious point would be Holmes' cocaine 'addiction.' But anyone who has read Sherlock Holmes would know that Holmes used cocaine only when he had no case, when he was bored and listless and needed something to fill that seemingly interminable gap between cases. He used it to feel thrill and excitement in place of his work and not much else. Certainly not as someone who kept being drawn to it despite everything. He had a mystery in this episode, and so his sudden use of the needle came as a bit of a surprise to me.<br /><br />But then, perhaps he did need it to feel excitement. He certainly didn't show it anywhere. No buoyancy about the case, no ebullient interest in the curiosities that arose, just stoic, ambivalent irritability to everyone he met and interacted with. Including Watson, which I should elaborate on here.<br /><br />Everyone so far has commented on Holmes' lack of characterisation in this, but it was his interaction with Watson that annoyed me above all. Holmes is not and never is Holmes without his Watson, his Boswell, his friend, partner, and brother. One of the main things I enjoyed about Granada Television's serials were Holmes and Watson's interaction and dialogue, the way they complemented each other and respected each other to the highest level, even if Holmes was infrequent in saying so and it always seemed to me, to be a bit ineloquent for a moment, that they just had a whole crapload of fun. They had a companionship and understanding of each other that, annoyingly, was not shown in this movie. From the first few minutes of conversation it was already evident that this was not the friendship that Holmes and Watson should have. Even Watson's admiration of Holmes was absent and replaced with exasperation and thin temper for his friend's eccentricities. No gasp of astonishment when Holmes revealed himself from a costume that by the way, seemed rather anachronistic of the late Victorian and early Edwardian era, just a look of slight betrayal and lack of amusement.<br /><br />And while we're on the subject, I found myself constantly baffled by the sudden appearances of police fingerprints, phones, and physical violence in the cells. I'm hardly a historical expert on this, so I let them go mostly when I noticed them, assuming I was just ill-informed, and yet, they are somewhat advanced for the time period Holmes is and was intended to be set.<br /><br />With that said, I always enjoy a competent Watson, and so Ian Hart made me happy in that respect. Even if that was slightly dampened by the jarring sounds of his fiancée/wife's voice.<br /><br />There were a few parts that I quirked a smile or chuckled for which I upped the stars, but it was definitely not enough to rectify the whole movie. The fact that they also kept trying to make it seem more Holmesish by inserting various dialogue from other stories was in itself a bit irritating. <br /><br />And the music! I enjoy the soundtrack, I do, but it did really seem like they were saying "Look, we took this time to make a really good soundtrack with violins and cellos and everything, so listen! Listen!"<br /><br />Perhaps the casual viewer might find this interesting, but as Holmsian I found it rather exasperating.