Sherlock Holmes: 5 Awesome Performances And 5 That Sucked

3. Ben Syder - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes

For The Asylum, the knock-off merchants behind such nearly-movies as Transmorphers, Alien vs. Hunter, and Atlantic Rim, Hollywood's love of adapting out-of-copyright, public domain sources is a godsend. When the blockbuster of the moment is War Of The Worlds or Journey To The Centre Of The Earth, the mockbuster doesn't even need to downgrade the title to a cheaper locale a la Snakes On A Train. You can just make a movie of the exact same thing. In response to the Guy Ritchie-Robert Downey Jr. Holmes, therefore, The Asylum released their own version, titled with impressive, and entirely misplaced, chutzpah "Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's" Sherlock Holmes, although exactly what the writer would have made of this mess is anybody's guess. Unusually, the actor playing Holmes, who here has to fight a lot of cheap CGI monsters with steampunk trappings, does not get top billing, with that honour instead going to Torchwood supporting player Gareth David-Lloyd. Holmes having to play second fiddle in his own movie is probably not a good sign and it is indeed indicative of a performance which is bland, wooden and lacking in any kind of personality at all. Syder made his film acting debut here and his entire resume since includes nothing but a couple of shorts. His performance as Holmes, though, is enough to make you long for The Asylum's usual roster of washed up 80s pop stars and former porn actors.