With the success of Sherlock Holmes in 2009, and the fact that it brought Robert Downey Jr. back into being an actor in demand, I had very high expectations for Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. Those expectations were met easily as the writers once again delivered a great Sherlock Holmes story that had an edginess and grittiness that has worked well lately. The story on this go around centers around a series of bombings and assassinations across Europe believed to be perpetuated by an anarchist group. If the activities do not stop, war will erupt through Europe that would lead to mass destruction and casualties. Only Holmes does not believe the events to be the sole work of anarchists, but rather believes Professor James Moriarty to be the mastermind criminal behind these events. While Watson planned to retire from adventures with Holmes after his wedding, he is reluctantly pulled back in after Moriarty's henchmen try to kill him and his wife while they are on a train journeying for their honeymoon, so he agrees to help Holmes with one last adventure. Only this time around the duo receives an additional member: the mysterious gypsy Madam Simza.
The villain character of Professor James Moriarty is not only the perfect antagonist for Sherlock Holmes, but his character is very compelling as well. I loved how his professional life as a criminal master mind is secured hidden beneath that of his profession of being a professor at the University of Cambridge. Moriarty is a much more intelligent, much more cunning and even a lot more deadly then Lord Blackwood was in the previous installment. Moriarty ends up being a very powerful villain which in turn makes him a suitable opponent to match wits with Holmes. Moriarty has the ability because of his strengths to make Holmes more human and not perfect. While in the first installment Holmes is a detective who can do no wrong, in A Game of Shadows, Holmes will make mistakes, which in turn will lead to pain for not only him but others. A part that I really enjoyed about Moriarty that makes him so suitable for Holmes is that like Holmes, he too can elaborate and map out the fighting strategies in his mind. While the look of Jared Harris may not fit for a typical antagonist, Moriarty is far from a typical antagonist and the performance he gives as Moriarty is spot on, that he makes for a perfect choice for the role.
Robert Downey Jr. reprises his role as Sherlock Holmes and shows once again how masterful of a performance he can give. While in a lot of recurring role movies, while the performance may be great they play the character in such a way that we do not see anything new or growth with the character. Downey in the role does a great job at not only giving us the same Holmes from the first film in so many respects, but it is almost as if in the time that has passed since the events of the last film ended that he has taken Holmes and only magnified the eccentricities. Yet, Holmes would not be as strong without his partner in his adventures of Dr. Watson played once again by Jude Law. Law works so well with Downey that where Holmes is the eccentric one, Watson is the one that centers or grounds Holmes. Law plays his role to perfection. The chemistry between the two is strong and it is partly because of not only how well the two work together, but the ability they seem to have to almost try to one up each others performance in such a small way that it makes them better and takes their acting to a new level. It is this taking it to a new level that has made the Sherlock Holmes movies so successful. In a smaller role that completes this new trio is Noomi Rapace in the role of Madam Simza. While the role was pretty simple, she was able to showcase he acting abilities with not only some great action sequences, but the fact that she is sharing the screen with Downey and Law in such a way that she is not dwarfed in any scene by being with such big name actors. The role allowed her to show her skills and let everyone know that she was not included merely to be eye candy, but that she could bring important characteristics to the overall story.
The story for A Game of Shadows is just as strong and intriguing as in the first movie, without being too similar that it became predictable and boring. One of the strongest aspects of the story was the use of making the audience feel like they were figuring out what was going on just as Holmes was learning of it himself. This allowed the audience to feel like they were not only watching a movie, but it was almost as if they were a fourth member on the adventure. Equally matching the story are the action sequences. While the first installment had its moments of explosive action sequences, A game of Shadows takes the explosive action to a whole new level. The action though is paced in such a brilliant way that it really helps to keep the story moving that even at 129 minutes it seems to just fly by. Yet, guy Ritchie has such a great directorial flair that he can also make the action quiet, which helps to tell a great story along with the action, a great example of this is the chess sequence. The chess sequence probably ended up being my favorite part of the movie as Holmes and Moriarty started playing a chess game on a board only to stop and finish the game by simply calling out their moves along with their move in real life.
slo-mo sequences help the audience not only catch their breath, but also the style gives a detailed view of what is happening during what would normally get lost in a fast moving sequence. Along with the slow motion sequences , it was great to see Holmes in so many disguises. The disguises are a trademark hobby for Holmes so for this to be an evolution of Holmes' identity was a brilliant move. And Downey's humor throughout the film really helped to lighten the tension for the audience at times. The musical score by Hans Zimmer was brilliant once again. The heavy use of the fiddle helped greatly and I loved how the main theme sounded so much like it was in the first Sherlock Holmes with a tweak or two of some sort, whether it be more notes laid on top or a simple key change.
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows while it had its flaws, truly did meet my expectations that the flaws were all minimal in my book. The acting was strong and Downey brought a little something extra with the humor throughout the movie. Professor Moriarty though was a key component for the success of this film, Moriarty being the criminal mastermind in the story was superb and he brought Holmes down to being human like character because Moriarty has the ability to truly match wits with Holmes. If they decide to do a third installment it will be very difficult to bring in a villain to match what Moriarty brought to the table in this go around. I greatly enjoyed Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, I am giving it four buckets of popcorn out of five. Anyone that is a fan of great movies needs to see this movie in the theater, it is well worth the price of the ticket to see. It is definitely a movie that will be added to the collection once it is released.
-The Movie Man
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