In Young Sherlock, an ambitious attempt has been made to reinvent the most popular detective with regard to the highly stylized filmmaking of Guy Ritchie, known for his flamboyant and frenetic take on cinema. It's an Amazon Prime Video eight-episode series that loosely acts as a prequel to the stories written by Arthur Conan Doyle. The narrative is filled with stylistic visual stimulation and creative irreverence; however, the series experiences difficulty later on striking a balance between spectacle and substance.

STORYLINE

Set in England during the Victorian time period, 19-year-old Sherlock Holmes (Hero Fiennes Tiffin) begins this adventure in prison until he is rescued by his older brother, Mycroft. During his uncertain transition to Oxford, Sherlock soon finds himself amidst a series of conspiracies involving a Chinese princess, underground academic communities, and an impending threat from around the world. James Moriarty (Dónal Finn), who is depicted as a charming yet volatile equal to Sherlock, becomes a friend of Sherlock. With murder accusations mounting and hidden truths about his family beginning to surface, Sherlock must take on external antagonists while dealing with the trauma from his broken family.

Positive Points

The biggest upside to the series belongs to its high level of production quality, with Period Oxford being recreated in great detail, while the direction of Ritchie with his trademark fast-moving narrator creates a sense of speed and energy in the first couple of episodes. Sherlock then disguises, chase scenes, and stylized fight scenes to be creative and very entertaining. Zine Tseng portrays the princess well; and Natascha McElhone gives us a well-rounded insight into who Sherlock's mother is and what her relationship with him is like. The last couple of episodes bring back some urgency to the storytelling with various twists, and globetrotting adventure that almost seems to deserve the build-up. 

Negative Points

On the downside, the series does not do a good job with the characters. Sherlock’s character limitations have been solved by taking his brilliant mind and putting it on the sidelines so that he can be more focused on physical altercations, and therefore reducing the legend of his ability to deduct to that of another reluctant action hero. Moriarty has not been written as a subtle, nuanced opponent to Sherlock, but rather as a loud and blatant antagonist. The episodes halfway into the season seem to drag on forever with family backstories that have no real depth, and the references to older classic Holmes stories serve to give the feeling of being a fan experience as opposed to re-invented in a significant or new way. 

Overall: Young Sherlock is both periodically entertaining and bright, but is also uneven. It has a lot of good pieces from a visual perspective, as well as from a thematic perspective, but at no point does it capture the unique and brilliant mental ability that is represented by the legacy of Holmes. It is not a total failure, but it is a lot flashier for its experimental purposes than it is a legitimate origin story.