Meet the new great super hero of the last century

Rating: 7/10 (15 January 2012)

The first Sherlock Holmes not only took off Madonna's shadow over Ritchie's works but also reinforced the idea that troubled icons such as Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law and Guy Ritchie himself still ruling the box office.
Putting that aside, the first Sherlock Holmes was a breath of fresh air for a character that had become something so obsolete as James Bond over the years. Like Daniel Craig renewed the world's most beloved spy, Guy Ritchie and Robert Downey Jr. renewed the world's most beloved detective.
Fans of the books liked Ritchie's new approach, although many still questioning the presence and importance of some facts and characters like Irene Adler (Rachel McAdams) in the first installment, since that character is mentioned in only one story. The presence of Rachel McAdams as Irene also brought a different dimension to the first movie because she was a great partner and, as Sherlock mentions in the story, she is "the woman" and I could not hide my disappointment when I noticed that her presence in The Game Of Shadows would not only be important, but also brief... very brief.
Instead of Rachel McAdams, now there is Noomi Rapace performing gypsy Simza Heron, a character that appears and disappears and no one even notice that during the movie. If some fans say that the presence of Rachel in the first movie was useless, now they have reasons enough to do the same with Rapace's character. Of many films I've seen lately I haven't watch any that features a so useless character that has nothing to contribute for the development as happens with Sim Heron.
The name of Noomi Rapace in the credits is just an indirect way to promote and link her name to David Fincher's remake of the first part of the Millennium Trilogy. That's so that way that here in Brazil both movie posters of Game Of Shadows and the remake of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo are arranged and disposed in hall theaters intentionally.
The Game Of Shadows is a great action movie. The slow motion scenes and the scenes representing Sherlock's logical reasonings and his practical side were maintained and improved and for me those are the best scenes throughout the film together with its linear plot and great story development. But I think that some exaggerations turned Sherlock Holmes more like a new great political incorrect superhero than just only a clever detective.
Many people loves the eccentric figure of Downey Jr. and his cynical way of acting, but I personally don't like his constant habit of always acting like everything was a big circus. Jude Law was great as always and Jared Harris as Moriarty really is the great villain that you should never met.
Also happened in this movie what happened with Soderbergh's Ocean's 12, a film filled with improvised dialogs and full of inside jokes between a bunch of friends.
But despite all of that the film flows as it should, the plot development is linear and holds our attention, keeping what it promises during its 129 minutes.
And Guy Ritchie proved that he could stop being a director of cult action movies to become an excellent blockbuster director without losing his own style.