‘Young Sherlock’ Review: Guy Ritchie’s Amazon Series Is Dumb Fun That’s More Dumb Than Fun

Hero Fiennes Tiffin plays a 19-year-old Sherlock Holmes and Dónal Finn is James Moriarty, with Colin Firth and Joseph Fiennes lending support. Hero Fiennes Tiffin in 'Young Sherlock.' Daniel Smith/Prime Share on Facebook Share on X Google Preferred Share to Flipboard Show additional share options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share on Tumblr Share on Whats App Send an Email Print the Article Post a Comment Logo text The next time Guy Ritchie makes a smart movie or television show will be the first, but he’s built a deservedly lengthy career from flashy projects that sometimes create alchemy out of fun and dumb. When Ritchie is good, the balance is more toward the “fun” side of the ledger. When Ritchie is bad, the balance is more toward the “dumb” side. Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch? Fun Ritchie. Swept Away and Aladdin? Dumb Ritchie. The Man from U.N.C.L.E.? Fun Ritchie, then Dumb Ritchie, all in one. On the small screen? The Gentlemen is Fun Ritchie, MobLand is Dumb Ritchie. Related Stories Lifestyle Alexa+, Amazon's New AI Assistant, Now Has Three Personalities Business Amazon Gives Entertainment Giants a New TikTok-Fighting Tool: AI-Powered Vertical Video Tech Young Sherlock The Bottom Line A promising beginning and end sandwich a slog of a middle. Airdate: Wednesday, March 4 (Amazon)Cast: Hero Fiennes Tiffin, Donal Finn, Zine Tseng, Joseph Fiennes, Natascha McElhone, Colin FirthCreator: Matthew ParkhillDeveloped by: Guy Ritchie and Peter Harness Ritchie is so committed to fun and dumb that even when he took on Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Conan Doyle’s compulsively brainy gumshoe, he turned Holmes and Watson into Victorian pugilists, one of whom occasionally used deductive reasoning. The first Sherlock Holmes movie is Fun Ritchie (barely) and the second is Dumb Ritchie. The eight-episode Young Sherlock, airing on Amazon, tends more toward the dumb side of the ledger. Developed by Ritchie and Peter Harness, created by Matthew Parkhill, Young Sherlock claims Andrew Lane’s Young Sherlock Holmes novels as its adaptive source. Well, if Lane’s books were prequels to Doyle’s works only in the loosest of ways and this series is adapted from Lane’s books only in the loosest of ways, at some point there ceases to be any resemblance to the character who has been known and beloved for nearly 140 years. Young Sherlock only resembles the brand when it makes the most direct of references to the brand, which is also when Young Sherlock is most annoying. Set at some indeterminate point in the 18-whatevers, Young Sherlock begins with 19-year-old Sherlock (Hero Fiennes Tiffin) at London’s Newgate Prison, locked away for pickpocketing and general insolence. On the verge of getting pummeled by a fellow inmate, Sherlock gets whisked away by his brother Mycroft (Max Irons, in a role that perfectly utilizes his tendency toward the wooden), a buttoned-down civil servant who says he’s secured a place for Sherlock in Oxford. That does not mean that Mycroft has gotten Sherlock INTO Oxford. Instead, the brilliant but undisciplined Sherlock has to work as an assistant to a school porter, the sort of thing that would teach the budding genius humility except that it’s part of the plot for perhaps 15 minutes at most. Sherlock is working in janitorial services at Oxford exactly long enough to pull a Will Hunting. Not something resembling a Will Hunting. Sherlock literally sneaks into a math classroom after hours and attempts to solve an equation, where he’s found and befriended by James Moriarty (Dónal Finn), a character Sherlock Holmes fans know will eventually become Holmes’ adversary, but for now is an equally brilliant peer who has what Sherlock Holmes lacks: the ability to punch people in the face. Once again, Ritchie has decided the most exciting and fulfilling way to handle Sherlock Holmes is to focus on the legendary detective punching people or, in this case, learning to. Zzz. Wait. Sorry. Where was I? Oh right. Sherlock and Moriarty. Buddies! Soon, the buddies will be on the run, accused of nothing less than murder as part of the season-long arc involving a Chinese princess (Zine Tseng, fairly effective in a thinly crafted role), a cabal of academics known as Apostles, a plot for global domination and — coincidence of coincidences — Sherlock’s traumatic family history, which includes an institutionalized mother (Natascha McElhone), a generally absent father (Joseph Fiennes) and a dead sister. This all relates to the gloriously named, hilariously underwritten Sir Bucephalus Hodge (Colin Firth, who, I can only assume, owed somebody money or a favor), arriving at Oxford with fetching assistant Edie (newcomer Holly Cattle, guaranteed to get work out of this, if nothing else) and a colonialist agenda. For a few episodes, the first two directed by Ritchie, Young Sherlock is generally entertaining enough. The opening episodes establish high production values in recreating period Oxford — it’s a non-surprise tha