Even better than the first

Rating: Null/10 (21 December 2011)

The cinematic reinvention of the English sleuth in 2009 was such a success that it was clear we had a new franchise in the making and so two years later the old team are back for a second outing with the same leading actors – the brilliant Robert Downey Jr as the eponymous detective and engaging Jude Law as his long-suffering companion in a duo with evident chemistry – plus the same director (Guy Ritchie) and the same musician (Hans Zimmer).
Sequels so often disappoint compared to the original, but "A Game Of Shadows" is even more confident and fun. This may not be high art but, in terms of sheer entertainment, this is almost as good as it gets. The threat could hardly be larger - the instigation of a first world war – and, as Professor Moriaty, Jared Harris supplies a splendid villain, while Stephen Fry is a delight as Holmes' older brother. The first movie was weak on women and here Rachel McAdams and Kelly Reilly have little to do, but at least Noomi Rapace ("The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo") looks the part as an exotic if sullen gypsy.
In truth, except for all the deduction from detail, period settings in 1891, and wry humour, this adventure is so frenetic, with one action sequence after another and Ritchie's trademark rapid cutting alternating with slow-motion shots, that this could almost be a Jason Bourne or Mission Impossible movie. But, heh, who\s complaining? Certainly not me.