“Sherlock Holmes” sequel delivers what you expect and more
Photo Credit: Warner Bros Pictures
Robert Downey Jr. is once again enjoyable as the titular hero.
Sam Zaghloul, Staff writer
February 8, 2012
Filed under Arts & Entertainment, Movies, Reviews
Once again, I venture forth into the dark depths of the local cinema to witness the spectacle of an age old hero being reborn upon the silver screen at the masterful hands of Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, and director Guy Ritchie, with Jared Harris joining in as the infamous Professor Moriarty.
“Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows” picks up where the first movie left off: Watson has left Baker Street and gotten hitched, while Holmes hunts to discover the end-goal of Moriarty’s scheming. After Watson’s honeymoon gets interrupted by an attack while on the train (and his wife gets thrown out of it by Holmes, but she survives), and the duo are reunited to race around Europe to stop Moriarty’s dastardly scheme (I always wanted to write the word “dastardly” and have it published).
You remember the first movie? Well, it’s like that, but more: the action is faster, the dialogue is snappier, and the villain is much more sinister. Moriarty never drops the façade of being a kind, grandfatherly college teacher (even when he’s torturing someone with a meat hook), plotting the deaths of thousands, and informing Holmes that he’s going to kill Watson and his wife for his interference. Harris is chilling in the role. Downey and Law continue to excel. Downey’s Holmes is strange and argentic, but not in a way that makes you hate him, and Law is both badass and the last bastion of normality in Holmes’ world. Also, Stephen Fry is hilarious as Holmes’ brother Mycroft, who shows up for some brief, pivotal scenes.
Not that the movie’s flawless, however. One lengthy action sequence that was obviously meant for 3-d goes on for a bit too long, and it’s somewhat disorienting. Despite that, I thoroughly enjoyed “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows” and would recommend it to anybody who enjoys light-hearted Indiana Jones-esque adventure films
