Movie Review | Sherlock Holmes: a Game of Shadows

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This movie is worth coming back to again and again.

Ever since the conclusion of the 2009 adaption of Sir Arthur Conon Doyle’s famous detective hit the big screen (starring Robert Downey Jr. as the unforgettable Sherlock Holmes and Jude Law as his longtime friend Dr. John Watson), I’ve been waiting for a sequel to this story.  Despite my worries that Sherlock Holmes: a Game of Shadows might have suffered from what I call sequel-itis, where the product worsens in quality over time, I still had high hopes for the new conflict between Holmes and one of literature’s most famous villains, Professor Moriarty (Jared Harris; Mad Men, Fringe). Does the next film in the series live up to its predecessor? Well, yes and no.

The plot is hard to follow. You catch snippets of an overarching dilemma that places France and Germany at each other’s throats and a World War just waiting to explode, but I felt like that part of the story didn’t get the attention it deserved. It is overshadowed instead by the exploits of Holmes as he attempts to track the efforts of Moriarty, who has secretly been controlling both sides and hopes to profit immensely from the eruption of war.  

Holmes is also bugged by Watson’s impending marriage to his lover, Mary. Holmes knows that Watson would leave him to go start a family if the star detective didn’t keep incidentally interfering and bringing Watson back into his struggle against Moriarty. The two friend’s adventures drag them across Britain, France, Germany, and Switzerland in an attempt to uncover Moriarty’s plots. The story suffers from lack of explanation, and rather bland characters such as the gypsy woman that the two befriend outside of Paris. Crude pacing overshadows what could have been so much more, and the one slow motion scene where the group is fleeing from a barrage of artillery is little more than a gimmick, and really should have been cut to add more time for the characters, who, by contrast, are what really make this movie shine.

Robert Downy Jr. is the same old Sherlock Holmes we know and love from the first film, and Jude Law delivers as Watson, who is literally torn from his wife to deal with Holmes’s enigmatic plans. The introduction of multiple characters from Doyle’s original scripts is executed well; Sherlock’s brother Mycroft is rather funny, and Colonel Sebastian Moran makes an excellent cameo as Moriarty’s right-hand man.

The real star of the show for me is Jared Harris as Professor Moriarty. The star of Mad Men delivers as Holmes’ intellectual, yet far more devious, equal. He goes as far as to threaten the life of Watson in order to stop Holmes from interfering with his plans. The dialogue between Holmes and Moriarty is simply awesome. Their very first scene together is a back-and-forth of threats, observations, wit, insults, and more. The final climactic scene in which the two engage in a game of chess is probably the greatest part of the movie, bringing both men to their mental and physical limits.

Did I enjoy Sherlock Holmes: a Game of Shadows? Yes. Did I walk away feeling like it could have been better? Yes. Will I get it when it comes out on DVD? Definitely.

Review-3 ½ stars out of 5