I waited patiently to see Mr Holmes, and the result was well worth the wait, an absolutely wonderful character study, I believed the scenario, the relationships, performances etc, it was superbly put together. It felt like closure to all the various Sherlock Holmes series, like Poirot's Curtain in a way. Sublimely acted by all concerned, Sir Ian McKellan is proving he is without a shadow of a doubt one of the very best actors on this planet, he was absolutely amazing. I also thought Laura Linney and Hattie Morahan were also brilliant, but the performance from young Milo Parker was exceptional, I thought he was great. The locations were perfectly fitting to the tone of the film. I loved it, thought it even better on the second viewing, would be nice to see another title with him. 10/10

Ian McKellen(a consistently great actor) taking on the iconic character of Sherlock Holmes in his older version seemed like a perfect match, and the film had an interesting idea going for it so of course I was going to see it and with high expectations. And those high expectations were mostly met. Mr Holmes isn't perfect and it was not quite what was expected, but it was a very good, well-made, well-acted film and quite easily Bill Condon's best since Kinsey.

Mr Holmes has a very talented cast on board, and while most of them acquit themselves very well others such as Phil Davies and Frances Barber have very little to do in underwritten roles. The Japan sequence is shot absolutely beautifully, is well-acted and the period detail blameless also but it does drag the film down pacing-wise and doesn't always add to the story as much as it could(some parts of it almost superfluous),the music as well in this particular part of the film is the kind that works well on its own but doesn't fit with the understated style of the rest of the film's music score. I agree too that the use of three different time-lines and the heavy use of flashbacks occasionally make the film slightly muddled.

On the other hand, Mr Holmes looks great. The period detail is incredibly elegant and sumptuous in colour and the photography has a mix of warm and hazy glow and occasional dark atmosphere when needed. The music on the most part is much understated, something that Mr Holmes with its type of story very much needed, and fits the film nicely, while Condon directs conscientiously and intelligently(very much in his comfort zone like he was with Kinsey and especially with Gods and Monsters). Mr Holmes is a very well-scripted film too, with plenty of thought-provoking moments, moments of dark poignancy and some lovely gentle droll humour(like the interaction between Holmes and Roger).

The story is not your typical Sherlock Holmes story, if you are looking for lots of mystery and suspense you'll be disappointed. Mr Holmes is very much a steadily paced and meditative character study and works excellently as one, the execution of the story as mentioned previously isn't perfect but it's told with plenty of charm, atmosphere and emotional impact and I appreciated the gentle steadily measured quality of it. Holmes is a very interesting, multi-faceted character here, and all the human relationships and depiction of memory loss are handled very believably and quite movingly as well. Apart from a few actors who don't have much to do, Mr Holmes is very well acted, with the standouts being the strikingly subtle and genuinely absorbing Ian McKellen(who can tell so much even by just his face) and Milo Parker's, who holds his own against McKellen brilliantly, refreshingly lively Roger. Hattie Morahan is heart-breakingly enigmatic as Ann and Laura Linney, despite her rather wobbly accent, is surprisingly classy and touching in a rather unsympathetic role. In secondary roles, Roger Allam is always great to see and while rather campy Frances De La Tour is also quite hilariously absurd in her small role, and Nicholas Rowe shows up in one of the film's most particularly affectionate scenes.

All in all, a very good, if different to what was expected, film that has McKellen as its main selling point. 8/10 Bethany Cox

This film should be seen for Ian McKellan's magnificent portrayal of Sherlock Holmes who in 1947 has lived to the ripe old age of 93 and is in retirement. His main occupation is being a bee keeper and he has as companions RAF widow Laura Linney and her son Milo Parker. McKellan's scenes with Parker are most affecting.

Mr. Holmes's own razor sharp intellect is probably what is keeping him from drifting into complete senility. McKellan's acknowledges that the late Dr. Watson in his various books embellished quite a bit. I did love that McKellan's view of the books is that they are just 'penny dreadful' novels with some pretensions to intelligence. I wonder Arthur Conan-Doyle would have thought of that?

There is a sense of incompleteness in Holmes as he fights the loss of his aging memory for two instances where he might by his own dry personality caused some unhappiness. With Mr. Holmes it was always the truth devoid of sentiment.

There might be an Oscar in this for Ian McKellan. His performance dwarfs the film itself as a whole. But McKellan fans will treasure this one.

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