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Is it worth $10? Yes
Sherlock Holmes is a great detective, adept at solving unsolvable cases with extreme intelligence and a mastery of disguise. So it’s a bit of a mystery why “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows” allows Holmes to almost immediately identify who the bad guy is. Eschewing the whodunit formula isn’t necessarily a mistake, but Holmes in a game of cat-and-mouse is not what we’ve come to expect.
Those who know Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s source novels, however, are familiar with Holmes’ archenemy Professor Moriarty, and it’s not long before we see the two match wits. It’s 1891 in London, and as usual Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) has help from Dr. Watson (Jude Law), who doesn’t want to be involved because he just got married. They team up with a gypsy fortuneteller named Simza (Noomi Rapace, from the Swedish “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” movie) and try to stop Moriarty (Jared Harris) from starting a world war.
Whereas the 2009 original frustratingly didn’t fill us in on plot points until Holmes was good and ready, this time director Guy Ritchie and screenwriters Michele and Kieran Mulroney keep us in the know about key elements. However, the story gets off to a slow start and it takes far too long before we know what Moriarty is really trying to do.
That said, once Holmes and Moriarty start outfoxing one another – both guess wrong and guess right on various occasions – the film reaches a level of intrigue not often found in mainstream cinema. Uniquely, there’s never a question of if Moriarty is the villain, it’s always just about how Holmes will catch him. Fun stuff.
Downey is solid but not spectacular as Holmes, though his frequent disguises get silly after a while. Downey’s chemistry with Law is affably pleasant once again, but the two new additions, Rapace and Harris, fall a bit short. Rapace is given little to do as a female sidekick, and you can’t help but think Harris should be hammin’ it up and having a bit more fun.
Story and acting problems aside, one thing “Game of Shadows” does have is flair. If nothing else Ritchie is a renowned stylist whose action is often better than his narratives, and his use of slow motion and fast motion is second-to-none. In particular, note the scene in which Holmes, Watson and Simza escape an army by running through the woods, and how the slow motion holds us in suspense as chaos ensues. Good action and editing make the sequence a real treat.
“Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows” is a reasonably enjoyable lark that’ll keep you entertained and guessing throughout, even if it runs long at 129 minutes. And will there be a third “Holmes” movie? Let’s just say you don’t have to be Sherlock Holmes to figure that out.
Did you know?
Brad Pitt, Gary Oldman, Daniel Day-Lewis, Sean Penn and Javier Bardem were considered to play Moriarty.
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CRUZ
said:
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... I think, well I know this movie is going to be spectacular, I haven't seen this one yet, but I can't already wait for the next one. |
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