Everybody has a personal preference as to who is "the" Holmes or "the" Watson, but I like both these actors. Lee waits, watches, plans, restrains himself as Holmes, while Macnee tries to keep things more upbeat as Watson. There is also a cameo appearance by Joss Ackland as King Edward.
This is a story placed in British-controlled South Africa, after the horrific Boer Wars in the late 1800s. Apartheid, expansionist colonialism, class bars, color bars, and blood diamonds notwithstanding, it's a suspenseful movie with African wildlife and period scenery. If you're sensitive, there are some shockingly racist scenes; but if you can get past your reaction until you get back to real life, the film is quite entertaining.
Hunting for now-endangered animals...I wasn't psyched.
But yeah, a little racier than the usual Holmes plots. The younger soldier keeps pretty busy, it seems.