Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		5.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

Holmes & Watson Blu-ray Movie Review

Good God, Holmes! What the bloody hell happened?!?

Reviewed by Martin Liebman March 26, 2019

Remember when there was a rash of trash parody films flooding the marketplace about a decade ago? Movies like Meet the Spartans and Disaster Movie defiled cinemas with lame pop culture nods and forced and decidedly unfunny movie references tied together in an extremely loose "plot" that served no purpose beyond giving the gags a place to reside. Holmes & Watson is the newest member of the parody film fraternity's frivolous wing, this one making a mockery of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's iconic literary detective. The film has quickly gained a reputation as cinema scum, earning harsh critical reviews and incessant audience jeers. Sony even reportedly tried to pawn the movie off to Netflix in hopes of recouping some of the losses that seemed all but certain, even with the star power of Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly headlining the film, whose previous collaborations like Step Brothers and Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby proved successful comedy ventures for the same studio. But does Holmes & Watson really sink to the lowest of lows? No, not entirely, but it's certainly the duo's worst picture to date.

In 1800s England, a young Sherlock Holmes (Hector Bateman-Harden) has little interest in schooling and even less interest in spending time with any classmates. He uses his innate powers of deduction to find reason to have every single student expelled, leaving him the only pupil and the center of the entire faculty's attention. Holmes' sleuthing abilities and understanding of the world around him are finely honed over the years. Fast-forward a few decades. Holmes (Ferrell) and his partner Watson (Reilly) believe they have vanquished their foe, Dr. Moriarty (Ralph Fiennes), and exiled him to America. Queen Victoria (Pam Ferris) throws Holmes a lavish surprise party -- which he of course realized would happen well ahead of time -- in celebration of his victories that have made England a better place. But when a body falls out of the cake, Holmes and Watson find themselves mixed up in a plot to murder the queen. The duo have but days to save Her Majesty's life and must pair with two American women -- Dr. Grace Hart (Rebecca Hall) and her mute and slow companion Millie (Lauren Lapkus) -- to stand chance of solving their most dastardly case yet.

All the critics can’t be wrong, and the reports are true: Holmes & Watson isn’t a good movie. Sony knew it before it released and Ferrell and Reilly seemed to know it while filming, too. If there’s a saving grace, it’s that the actors appear to be fully invested in the movie. They know the material is dreadful and they take the only recourse available to them, which is to play up the absurdity of the dialogue and story and embrace the buffoonery with full commitment enthusiasm. There are some legitimate chuckles to be found throughout the movie, such as when Watson is fooled by Holmes’ makeshift disguise: the sleuth simply slaps a fake mustache on his face. Watson in turn pulls a pistol on his friend believing he has been kidnapped and replaced with another man in an instant. It’s ridiculous, but it's somehow funny. The pair brainstorm ideas for Waffle House and invent Pay-Per-View in a scene in which Holmes and Watson tag-team WWE’s Braun Strowman in the ring, surrounded by a gaggle of cheering onlookers (Watson winds up beating the massive wrestler with a wooden folding chair). There’s even a mildly amusing scene in which Holmes and Watson attempt to take selfies with the queen with a massive vintage camera on a huge wooden tripod used as a selfie stick. The movie barely has a functioning plot and rarely uses however few brain cells it has at its disposal, but it proves occasionally amusing if the audience can simply run with it as Ferrell and Reily do and accept it as lame entertainment performed by a couple of good actors working whatever magic they can muster to elevate the material to occasionally passable levels.

But the movie unravels when the absurdity reaches its zenith, which it does quite often. There’s a disconcerting “parody” of the classic pottery scene from Ghost during which Watson and Hart romance one another during, and become aroused while conducting, an autopsy on the body that fell out of Holmes' surprise party cake. The scene includes Watson "setting the mood" by playing the anachronistic "Unchained Melody" through a phonograph. There are too many other groan-inducing scenes to mention, but the film manages, accidentally, probably, to find a balance between irredeemable awfulness and gleeful absurdity.

The film earns a pass on its production design, which offers an infrequently seen but seemingly well put together recreation of 221B Baker Street, among other locations. Various examples of digital support backgrounds blend seamlessly into the movie, and costumes appear correct for the time and place (sans a ridiculous "Make England Great Again" Fez hat, one of the many "timely" gags that so often date and sink movies of this sort). But, yes, a few laughs here and decent production design there obviously can't save the film. The random moviegoer might have a good time with it, brushing aside any and all expectations and watching if only in hopes that the next gag just might be the one worth a laugh. It's a difficult watch, but it's hardly the worst thing to ever come across a movie screen.

Holmes & Watson Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Holmes & Watson's digitally photographed source material translates nicely to Blu-ray. Sony's 1080p transfer reveals the Victorian costumes and set pieces with clarity and splendor. The image is tack-sharp and immaculately clean, highly detailed and richly colored. The presentation has no difficulties with revealing period attire and furnishings with high-yield clarity. One of the highlights includes a pair of old, cracked leather chairs that seat Holmes and his brother Mycroft, with whom he telepathically communicates. In this scene, the other nicely appointed items that furnish the snooty "Diogenes Men's Club" showcase resplendent textures, as do all types of period clothes (including the Queen's more majestic wear). Intimate facial features are exactingly clear and sharp. Colors are quite nice, neutral in every sense of the word with contrast perfectly dialed-in, which ranges from the red walls and warm furnishings inside 221B to clothes and street-level details. Skin tones appear accurate and black levels perfectly deep. No source or encode flaws of any kind are immediately obvious. This is a first-class Blu-ray release from Sony.

Holmes & Watson Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Holmes & Watson is not a film that makes regular, wide, and prodigious use of sound. The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack is perfectly proficient in handling the film's modest audio needs. There are few examples of dominant sound in the movie. An explosion near the end lacks stage-commanding depth and spacing but hits hard enough. There's some well defined churning, clanking, and grinding, sounds accompanying a large moving series of gears during the film's finale. Light score is nicely detailed with satisfying front-side stretch and light surround support. Environmental elements are seamlessly folded into the presentation. Such effects include widely stretched and enveloping applause early in the film and din around a gymnasium in chapter nine. Dialogue drives most of the experience. Clarity is fine, prioritization is never an issue, and placement holds firm in the front-center speaker.

Holmes & Watson Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Holmes & Watson contains a couple of featurettes, a number of deleted scenes, and a "Line-O-Rama" supplement. A DVD copy of the film and a Movies Anywhere digital copy code are included with purchase. This release ships with a non-embossed slipcover.

• Line-O-Rama (1080p, 5:35): The actors deliver alternate lines during several scenes.
• Will & John: Together Again (1080p, 5:09): Reuniting the actors who have worked together before and the benefits of their collaboration on this film.
• Seriously Absurd: The Cast (1080p, 8:27): A closer look at the supporting actors who support Ferrell and Riley.
• Mrs. Hudson's Men (1080p, 1:12): A few famous men talk up Hudson's sex appeal.
• Deleted & Extended Scenes (1080p, 49:38 total runtime): Included are I Seem to Have Forgotten My Hat; Did You Hear the Good News?; Mrs. Hudson's Lovers; You Caught Me in a Micronap; Sherlock in Love; Carriage Song; Extended Autopsy; Carriage Ride; Feces Merchant; He's Got One Arm for God Sakes, Catch Him; That Room Is a Sanctuary; Reading My Diary?; We're Here to Seduce; Is It An Eyepatch?; The Killer's Next Move Is Elementary; That's Not the First Anus You've Seen Today; I'm Going to Kill the Queen; and Calling the Hive to Battle.
• Previews (1080p): Additional Sony titles.

Holmes & Watson Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There are innumerable problems with Holmes & Watson, chief amongst them that the movie just doesn't try. It folds in lazy gags that rarely accentuate the plot or flow from the story, not that there's much "plot" or "story" to begin with. Ferrell and Riley, whom audiences rightly expect to appear in a better movie, do their best to sink so low as to embrace and compliment the material rather than simply phone in their performances, but even their considerable talents are not enough to carry the film to respectability. There are a few honest laughs here and this reviewer, for one, has seen and reviewed much worse. At its best, Holmes & Watson is mildly amusing disposable cinema and at its worst an insult to even the most forgiving moviegoer. Sony's Blu-ray is well-rounded, at least, featuring good video and audio and a supplemental spread that's about all that can expected to accompany a movie of this sort. Rent it.