Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (***½)
Directed
by: Guy Ritchie
Starring:
Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Noomi Rapace, Jared Harris, Stephen Fry, Kelly
Reilly, Rachel McAdams
Seen:
December 28th 2011
***½
Out of ****
“It’s so overt, it’s covert”, says Sherlock Holmes (Downey Jr.) early
in this excellent sequel, the quote more than applicable to the movie itself. Where
the first movie was an almost tentative step out for the then-misfiring Guy
Ritchie (but still a fantastic movie in its own right), A Game of Shadows shows
no fear and boldly goes where the previous movie was only tempted to venture. The
pre-planning of fight sequences are back with more vigour, and unlike the first
movie where it was used twice in the first 20 minutes before disappearing, here
it is used numerous times, and it does not always turn out as expected or
planned either. Visually the movie is brazen, with the dull hue of almost every
scene only adding to the atmosphere. A strong villain and a plot that has the
viewer guessing until the last minute coupled with brilliant humorous touches will
most likely push this movie to just above the latest Mission Impossible when I
decide on my top movies for 2011.
When Irene Adler (McAdams) delivers a package on behalf of the genius
Professor Moriarty (Harris), which turns out to be more than just a promised
payment, Holmes intervenes just in time. Adler meets with Moriarty soon after,
and he’s immediately painted as a ruthless villain. Watson gets married, and
the events leading up to this marriage are wildly entertaining as Watson’s bachelor
party goes awry when Holmes meets with and then must save the life of Gypsy fortune
teller Simza (Rapace). As the couple leave for their honeymoon, Holmes meets
with Moriarty to ask him to leave Watson and his new wife Mary (Reilly) out of
their war - a request Moriarty denies - and Holmes has to, with the help of his
brother Mycroft (Fry), save the couples’ lives by ruining their holiday.
Holmes, Watson and Simza go after an anarchist group controlled by
Moriarty and as they think are about to thwart his plans, they realise Moriarty’s
misdirection and an explosion rocks Paris, killing various influential businessmen;
which puts them on yet another trial leading to a weapons factory in Germany. There
Moriarty’s endgame is revealed and Holmes, Watson and Simza must escape and
achieve much in an attempt to prevent it all. The escape through a sparsely
planted pine tree forest is jaw-dropping, expert use being made of slow motion and
bullet/cannonball paths; and when the dust settles for a moment everyone races
towards the tense final confrontation where Moriarty and Holmes are truly
pitted against each other, both mentally and physically.
A Game of Shadows’ strength lies in its adventurous and fast moving
plot where the viewer basically never has an idea of what comes next. The movie
also has the advantage of not having to introduce characters, but here goes one
better; it further enhances the characters before truly getting underway,
Holmes painted as a relatively crazy and unstable individual only covertly in
control of himself and Watson (Law) as his loyal friend who can’t truly figure
out why he returns to Holmes at all. Robert Downey Jr. is something
approximately 100 miles past brilliant as Holmes, and Jude Law himself bears
quite a brunt on his shoulders as Holmes’ sidekick. Initial rumour before
filming started slated Brad Pitt as a possible Moriarty, but Jarred Harris does
such a fantastic job of creating this chilling villain that it is hard to
imagine Pitt coming close to being as good.
Guy Ritchie is well and truly back on top with A Game of Shadows, a rise
he started cresting with the first Holmes movie, and this is one of those rare
instances where both movies in a series are equally brilliant and entertaining.
Here’s hoping the third can keep up…
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