Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows Review

2009's Sherlock Holmes was a welcome surprise when it came out. It seemed Guy Ritchie (director) had finally found the big budget franchise he was born to make. Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law were great together, and the story was wrought with all the mystery we could ask for. By the end of movie, it had become apparent that a sequel was almost mandatory. Sequels, however, can be very dangerous. They can be amazing, mediocre, or simply awful. 

It's hard to see where exactly A Game of Shadow's fits into this equation. This time around we follow the brilliant, yet deranged, Holmes as he stalks his arch nemesis Moriarty (played by the one and only Jared Harris of Mad Men fame) in an effort to foil some plan about world domination. There was something in there about money, causing a World War, and killing some people. If it sounds a bit convoluted, that's because it is. A Game of Shadows starts with all the potential in the world, but somewhere along the ride things just fizzle. Where did it all go wrong?

The problem with " Game of Shadows" is that a lot of it seems forced. Right from the start we are exposed to all the things that made the first film great. All the bits where Holmes does something to interrupt Watson's life for his own selfish reasons, which eventually leads to a new mystery to be solved. All the quick-witted dialogue that made the first one so fun has returned in the sequel, but something was off. The dynamic between Downey Jr. and Law is still great, despite Downey's tendency to chew scenery. He tends to pour it on a little too thick in this performance. It really comes down to two things: pacing and a screenplay plagued with issues.

The expository portion of the film is incredibly prolonged. There were some scenes that should have been left on the cutting room floor. Without getting into boring details, some scenes served no purpose or were simply filler. Moriarty, the bad guy, is revealed early on. The only thing we know is that he's bad and he wants to do bad things. The film then spends the next hour building up why Moriarty is so bad, without ever really going anywhere. Meanwhile, Holmes runs the gauntlet trying to stop Moriarty's evil plot. The story gets really confusing, which is the problem.  

Hmmm...yes...let us play a game Holmes...A Game of Shadows. Jared Harris as Moriarty.

The screenplay presents this villain (Moriarty) that's an egomaniac with a lot of money who wants to get more money, but he wants to kill other people in the process. Then it creates conflict between Holmes and Moriarty by throwing in a revenge situation. Does your brain hurt yet? Of course, Moriarity and Holmes play the game of cat and mouse. You'll get all the pretentious intellectual jousting that you can handle, seeing as Holmes has apparently met his equal. The dialogue exchange between the two is fun to a point, but then it just gets really hammy. 

The movie does play heavily on its strengths, however. The dynamic between both Holmes and Watson isn't lost in the sequel. Actually, Ritchie plays it to death. There are parts that are absolutely hysterical, and then there are parts that will leave you wondering "wha..I mean really?" It's as if Ritchie was trying to capture the magic of the first film, only he tries too hard. For example, Downey infiltrates a train by being disguised as a woman, which has been done to death. Then the audience is subjected to an awful sequence filled with all the baby town frolics any one could ask for.

It's as if to say "oh hey he's dressed like a woman, cue the laugh track." Not to take anything away from Downey's performance, but this sort of lazy attempt at humor is reserved for thespians like Kevin James. Most of these ridiculous scenes segue nicely into the action scenes. The action teeters between the impossible and ludicrous, but oh so fun . All the beautiful set design serves as a canvas to the destruction.

Ritchie's signature shooting style for action scenes (much like Raimi would watermark his movies with his distinct touch) returns with a larger budget, which means more things explode. The internal monologues that Holmes has during fight scenes also return, only this time with a twist. If the first movie's action could be described as "flashy", this films action would be described only as WTF. Ritchie has always had a knack for using seizure-inducing action scenes. These usually consist of super quick cuts and camera shifts, followed by slo-mo (see Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels).

It appears Ritchie got a little carried away this time around with the use of dramatic slo-mo. It's not very clear what he was trying to go for, but whatever it was, it failed. Thankfully, the fight scenes retain that gritty, violent quality to them. Nothing like a Jason Bourne flick (did you follow any of that? I vomited after 13 seconds). The action really is the best thing about this movie and that's not okay.  Due to a horrendous plot that has no idea where its going, the movie's potential is completely squandered.

It shouldn't take a movie 50 minutes to make sense. That's ultimately what hinders "A Game of Shadows" from being a great movie. It has no legs to carry it to the end, which results in a sloppy ending that leaves more to be desired. The first film had a cohesiveness to it. Everything melded together perfectly, from the plot to the action, it had a consistent flow. You had a great villain, you had an actual mystery to solve, and the action was fantastic. There's too much hit or miss in the sequel, with little consistency to speak of. Ritchie is a very good director and he has delivered some of the best action/comedy flicks, but this $140 million endeavor falls short.

The Bottom Line: A lackluster sequel that is hampered by shoddy plot structure. We deduce that Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows is little more than another dense action/adventure film. Save yourself the trouble and skip this one.