In “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows,” director Guy Ritchie gives viewers another dose of comedic adventurer Sherlock Holmes. The movie features returning actors Robert Downey, Jr. (Holmes), Jude Law (Watson) and Rachel McAdams (Irene Adler).
The plot begins after Watson gets married in the English countryside. While en route to his honeymoon, things take a turn for the interesting as he and his fiancé are attacked by henchmen of Professor James Moriarty.
Holmes is usually the smartest man in the room, but in this film he is challenged by Moriarty , played by Jared Harris, who is just as intelligent as Holmes.
Contrary to Holmes, Moriarty chooses to use his intelligence for evil. He turns everything into a complicated puzzle that Holmes must solve in order to save his friends and others from danger.
This film features much of the fast-talking banter viewers got from the first Sherlock Holmes film.
Downey delivers a stand-up performance as Holmes. He is just as loony, unconventional, and devoted to the character as he was in the first film.
Law gives a flawless performance as Watson, and the chemistry between the two characters is not something that cannot be taught. They are the yin and yang to one another, balancing the crazy with the conventional. Ritchie did an excellent job of bringing the dynamic between Holmes and Watson together.
Although the characters were well cast and the chemistry was present, there was still something missing from this film. The plot was lackluster and included many fight scenes that just seemed as if they would never end.
No matter how many buildings collapsed, or how often characters survived a treacherous fall, they always seemed to dust themselves off and get back up. While the perserverence is appreciated, somewhere reality sets in, and the entertaining becomes too fictitious to be convincing.
The film had all the ingredients to be a five star film; the story was good, the characters were there, but the execution was off.
If you enjoyed the fight scenes of the first film, the witty banter, and Holmes’ strange method of hand-to-hand combat, you might enjoy this film.
If you like clever, intellectual mysteries with a splash of adventure, then this is not the film for you.