A talking, Scottish-accented police dog (though he won't speak to grown ups) and his British owner (what are they doing so far from home?) are on an isolated island somewhere off the coast of America staking out drug smugglers. After the copper is kidnapped by said rouges, the chatty canine is forced to team up with a chubby 10 year old lad and his sarcastic friend Emma to track down the baddies and launch a rescue mission. Trouble is, the only help available is the boy's eccentric (I would prefer to call him useless) inventor father and the two most inept law officials you'll ever meet (who also happen to be the only cops on the islands). Will they manage to save his life before the budget runs out?? Stay tuned..
Sherlock Bones is a terrible film all right, but it exudes a bizarre fascination more potent than almost any other bad film I've seen. Watching it is akin to seeing a bunch of toddlers attempt a revival of A Midsummer Night's Dream.. you know it's wrong but you can't pull yourself away because of what might happen next. For instance: everybody on this island goes around in golf carts. A running gag is that one of the two inept cops on the island (the fat guy, obviously) constantly has his foot run over by them. Ho Ho. This joke reaches a crescendo when a whole bunch of carts, all chained together, get nudged and end up rolling downhill, all passing over his foot one after another. The reason this part is so unbelievable is THE GUY JUST LETS THEM All SQUASH HIS FOOT WITHOUT MOVING IT AWAY. You'd think after the first one crushed it, he would at least withdraw his leg but NNOO that would ruin the joke! There's a fine line between dumb laughs and insulting the audience, and this scene crosses it.
What other little peculiar moments can I single out? How about the opening scene, when the overweight boy is on the ferry, finds a pet rat on the floor which everybody sees and as a direct result causes all of the passengers to puke over the side? (WHAT?) Or when the kids are trying to sneak past the moronic inventor, the girl has a fantastic idea of disguising his son as a female.. by slipping a two piece swimming costume on him (while neglecting to do anything about his appearance). On the technical side, I suppose I should mention the safety threads that stand out like a sore thumb when Sherlock is dragging the kid along the ground, and the three most obvious dummies ever which are supposed to be the bad guys as they're clinging on for dear life to a speeding ship. But all these pale in comparison to seeing the dog actually talk, as the mouth movements hardly match the words and sometimes you hear it speak when its jaws are firmly closed. Babe this ain't. As a final insult, said hound isn't even in half the movie, as he is conveniently injured or kidnapped for large chunks of it. Whassthematter, not got enough cash to smear dog food round Sherlock's lips Mr Producer Sir?
At just a touch under 90 minutes, you might think this would be an easy film for you to sit through with your kids. That's until you have to endure all the horrible music and endless slapstick, not to mention the terrible acting and the bargain basement effects. However, as a caveat, there are so many odd little idiosyncrasies that I've never seen in any film before or since it's got to be worth a look for sheer car crash value alone. They certainly don't make 'em like this any longer. Thank goodness for that.. 3/10
Sherlock Bones is a terrible film all right, but it exudes a bizarre fascination more potent than almost any other bad film I've seen. Watching it is akin to seeing a bunch of toddlers attempt a revival of A Midsummer Night's Dream.. you know it's wrong but you can't pull yourself away because of what might happen next. For instance: everybody on this island goes around in golf carts. A running gag is that one of the two inept cops on the island (the fat guy, obviously) constantly has his foot run over by them. Ho Ho. This joke reaches a crescendo when a whole bunch of carts, all chained together, get nudged and end up rolling downhill, all passing over his foot one after another. The reason this part is so unbelievable is THE GUY JUST LETS THEM All SQUASH HIS FOOT WITHOUT MOVING IT AWAY. You'd think after the first one crushed it, he would at least withdraw his leg but NNOO that would ruin the joke! There's a fine line between dumb laughs and insulting the audience, and this scene crosses it.
What other little peculiar moments can I single out? How about the opening scene, when the overweight boy is on the ferry, finds a pet rat on the floor which everybody sees and as a direct result causes all of the passengers to puke over the side? (WHAT?) Or when the kids are trying to sneak past the moronic inventor, the girl has a fantastic idea of disguising his son as a female.. by slipping a two piece swimming costume on him (while neglecting to do anything about his appearance). On the technical side, I suppose I should mention the safety threads that stand out like a sore thumb when Sherlock is dragging the kid along the ground, and the three most obvious dummies ever which are supposed to be the bad guys as they're clinging on for dear life to a speeding ship. But all these pale in comparison to seeing the dog actually talk, as the mouth movements hardly match the words and sometimes you hear it speak when its jaws are firmly closed. Babe this ain't. As a final insult, said hound isn't even in half the movie, as he is conveniently injured or kidnapped for large chunks of it. Whassthematter, not got enough cash to smear dog food round Sherlock's lips Mr Producer Sir?
At just a touch under 90 minutes, you might think this would be an easy film for you to sit through with your kids. That's until you have to endure all the horrible music and endless slapstick, not to mention the terrible acting and the bargain basement effects. However, as a caveat, there are so many odd little idiosyncrasies that I've never seen in any film before or since it's got to be worth a look for sheer car crash value alone. They certainly don't make 'em like this any longer. Thank goodness for that.. 3/10
