Ian McKellen’s ‘Mr. Holmes’ Gets Trailer

Ian McKellen’s latest film, Mr. Holmes, offers a take on the revered detective that most would not consider. Here, Sherlock Holmes is a 93-years-old beekeeper and struggles to access the steel trap memory that had made him such a formidable sleuth. The film begins with Holmes in Japan trying to find an elixir that will give him back his memory. And with the newest trailer – which you can see below – fans of McKellen’s and of the Sherlock Holmes stories can get a pretty decent look at what the renowned actor is like as titular hero of so many short stories, novels, cartoons and movies.

Fans of both McKellen’s and Holmes’ may wish to note that it’s the crime-busting that’s become gentle, not the actual crime itself. This isn’t Holmes on the trail of a Victorian pic ‘n’ mix racket or figuring out whose football has just sailed through his conservatory window. Instead, the seasoned sleuth is back on the case of the unsolved mystery that led directly to his retirement. The case, now three decades old, is colder than an Inuit’s icebox but, undeterred, Holmes dusts off his sleuthing instincts and sets to work.

As The Inquisitr has already noted, Ian McKellen has already spoken about what drew him to the role in the first place, saying that it was as much about his age as it was about the crime at hand.

“Mr. Holmes really is as much about being old as it is about the crime. I do relate to the ease with which Sherlock talks about death. That ease is something that has come to me and to a lot of my friends. Death is suddenly ever-present, even though we ignore it when we are young. For Sherlock, in this story, it is a race against time, and it is not quite like that for me. I don’t intend to retire. I will go on working on and off. I am happily going on with my life.”

McKellen has also said that working with bees almost made him turn down the role in the first place.

“I am not proud to say I worked with the bees. I did my own stunts on this occasion. Those were my hands lifting the frames with the bees on them. I wasn’t wearing gloves, which is a dangerous thing to do. But I didn’t get stung, nor did anything else. No bees were harmed in the making of this movie.”