Movie Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (12A)
Jenness Mitchell • Published 16 Dec 2011 08:00
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Following on from 2009's Sherlock Holmes, Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law return for a second helping as Holmes and Watson - intent on bringing down Jared Harris' Professor Moriarty.
Super sleuth Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) believes a series of unrelated crimes around Europe are connected to Professor James Moriarty (Jared Harris). Along with partner-in-crime Dr Watson (Jude Law), Holmes vows to bring down the megalomaniac. As the lives of his loved-ones are threatened, Holmes must uncover the link between a fortune-telling gypsy named Sim (Noomi Rapace) and his nemesis before the world is plunged into war.
Due to the Box Office success of Sherlock Holmes, Warner Bros. fast-tracked this sequel. Director Guy Ritchie had to drop out of an adaptation of Lobo and Robert Downey Jr. left Cowboys & Aliens - his part then given to Daniel Craig. Interestingly the original writers, who between them wrote the likes of The Book of Eli, Mr & Mrs Smith and X-Men: The Last Stand and First Class, were replaced by husband and wife team Kieran and Michele Mulroney (Paper Man) to pen the story conceived by Ritchie. On one hand I very much liked the witty teasing bantered back and forth between Holmes and Watson and the intellectual conversational bouts with Moriarty. On the other, I felt as if some of the silliness was thrown in to appease the 12A certificate. Whilst a naked Stephen Fry and 'dolled-up' Downey Jr. make for cheap giggles, A Game of Shadows could have been amazingly frightening as Moriarty is up there with Lecter, Voldemort, Wormwort, It and The White Witch in being a great literary villain. Instead, any atmospheric creepiness has been replaced in favour of all-out action.
As with the first film there are numerous hand-to-hand fight sequences battered out in Holmes' mind - the best one saved for last - and Ritchie's love of slow-motion is continuously played throughout the movie. There is a great chase scene in which explosions and bullets spray through woodland, and a torture act fitting of the characters involved.
What I loved about A Game of Shadows was the bromance between Robert Downey Jr.'s Holmes and Jude Law's Watson. Guy Ritchie is definitely a man's man as seen with Snatch, Lock Stock and RocknRolla, so the fact eyebrows aren't lifted when the two men waltz and when caught in a compromising situation is refreshing. As the leads, both Downey Jr. and Law have perfectly moulded themselves into the parts and are a joy to watch. As the sinister Professor Moriarty, Richard Harris' son Jared has the screen charisma to match that of Downey Jr., with his performance reminding me of a lighter Anthony Hopkins in Silence of the Lambs.
With room for dessert, I'd quite happily welcome a third adventure.
This article appeared in Alloa & Hillfoots Advertiser 21 Dec 11
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