Screenwriter Chris Columbus did a good job of explaining the character of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's fictional hero. Why did he become a professional private detective? He was a great student and loved to solve mysteries even while in school. Why did he never get married? Because he lost great first love, killed by his arch-enemy. Why did he always wear that ridiculous cloak and hat? They were trophies taken from his arch-enemy, Professor Moriarty. <br /><br />Well, this is certainly more exciting and fun than that other ride-on movie on the great detective, The Seven Percent Solution - a dour and put down treatment of Holmes. This one is more to my taste - with a handsome and crafty villain, a murderous secret organization with bloody rites, a pretty love interest and a climactic fencing duel. As with all prequels written by another author,however, some of the details of the new story do not always fit seamlessly with the old. In Conan Doyle's original, Dr. Watson makes it clear that he was meeting Holmes in London for the first time after retiring from service as a surgeon in the Indian Army (Imperial British military during the Raj). But in this movie, it is alleged that they were boyhood chums in grammar school.