After the prior Robert Downey Jr.- Guy Ritchie Sherlock Holmes earned a staggering $524 million globally, you didn't have to be the world's greatest detective to know a sequel would be on the way. Turning Arthur Conan Doyle's classic literary tales of detection and deception into a high-speed film with plenty of action, speed-ramped camera techniques and and quick, quippy cleverness. A Game of Shadows follows the same plan as the original. Only this time, bigger and better. As a spate of Antichrist bombings rips through Europe, Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) intercepts a letter that leads him to a mysterious gypsy girl (Noomi Rapace) and the brilliant professor Moriaty (Jared Harris) Meanwhile Dr. Watson (Jude Law) is trying desperately to get married.
There is very little sense in personal growth in Holmes' latest case. Director Guy Ritchie unapologetically sticks to the same formula. The set-pieces are bigger, with a good mix of marvel and overkill: the film keeps introducing bigger and bigger guns to up the ante somewhat. What has changed however, is the villain.
Make no mistake about it; Moriaty is Sherlock's Joker: a crook as indomitable as the hero. Far from lurking in the background, Moriaty takes centre stage. Through a series of confrontations, Holmes and his nemesis play a literal and metaphorical game of chess. Jared Harris was an excellent choice as Moriaty. He creates a Moriaty of diabolic grace - as poised as his opponent is jittery.
A Game of Shadows contains a number of standout action sequences, including a four-on-one encounter between Holmes and some thugs, a chase-and-escape at Watson's bachelor party, fireworks on a train, a torturous sequence involving a meat hook, and an artillery-impeded race through a forest. There are also plenty of explosions and secondary fights, all of which gel to make this latest adventure bigger then any other told so far. Holmes does not wear his deerstalker hat nor utter the word 'elementary', but he smokes pipes upon occasion and dresses up like both an elderly lady and the upholstery of a chair.
Ritchie's signature style is in evidence, but is not as overpowering as in the first movie. He uses slow-motion shots to detail Holmes' advance mental choreography of fights. The most inventive instance of this occurs when Holmes and Moriaty square off. Noomi Rapace is the only character that's a non-starter. It's not her fault, Noomi is a fabulous actress and I'm sure she'll have a more meaty role in Ridley Scott's Prometheus. But here, her gypsy girl is neither feisty nor particularly sympathetic, and doesn't even have a romance sub-plot. Watson is proving to be a great character for Jude Law. he's able to squeeze a touch of sensitivity to the tension of a sensible man fighting the irresistible lure of adventure. Downey Jr. has grown into the role. He seems far more relaxed; he's found his rhythm as Holmes. If you're a fan of Ritche and of the series, you'll love this movie.
A Game Of Shadows trumps Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes. Its a confident sequel that does everything better.
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