I hope Rachel McAdams didn't let the door hit her in the ass on the way out

Rating: 6/10 (19 December 2011)

2009's Sherlock Holmes was something of a stylish mess, redeemed almost entirely by the superb performances and chemistry of Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law as the world's greatest consulting detective and his faithful friend, Dr. Watson. When this sequel finally gets up to speed, it's a better film in many ways. Before that, though, it spends a surprisingly long time floundering on screen in a very obvious and labored fashion. In both movies, it's almost like director Guy Ritchie struggles to admit to himself that he's taken Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's classic characters and reimagined them as a mixture of James Bond, Lethal Weapon and Matrix/300 special effects. I think Richie's version is invigorating but, goodness gracious, he seems to have a lot of trouble marrying that vision to competent plot.
In this go round, Holmes and Watson need the help of a gypsy fortune teller (Noomi Rapace) to stop Professor Moriarty (Jared Harris) from staring a world war before the 20th century arrives. When the master of deduction and the Napoleon of crime come face to face for the first time, the movie clicks into gear and everything after that is a pretty fun adventure. Before that meeting, however, much of A Game of Shadows is problematic at best. The story takes forever in establishing its point and defining its main conflict, and not in a "it's a mystery" sort of way. It's more like a "these filmmakers don't know what the heck they're doing" sort of thing. The wedding of Dr. Watson is treated as a very big deal when, let's be honest, would anyone have cared if they'd simply broken off the engagement and restored Watson and Holmes to their Odd Couple status? On the other hand, Holmes' smarter brother Mycroft (Stephen Fry) is introduced in an abrupt and anti-climatic manner. Even though he's just plot device and comic relief, it feels like there should have been a bigger deal made out of him if Mycroft was going to be used at all.
This movie also makes the most publicly implicit acknowledgment of and apology for poor casting that I've ever seen in a motion picture. You can't tell me that if Rachel McAdams as Irene Adler had seemed more like Holmes' equal and less like his niece in the first film, the character would have suffered the same fate in this sequel. On the other hand, Noomi Rapace fits in very well with RDJ and Law. Not only does her character play a more believable role in the story and doesn't get shoved into some romantic entanglement with Holmes, but Rapace's more exotic, striking beauty meshes better with the grubbed up handsomeness of RDJ and Law.
Jared Harris deserves credit for his performance as well. It's not easy to be the counterpoint to an actor as talented and magnetic as RDJ, especially when your role is much quieter and less ostentatious. Harris' coldly commanding Victorian gentleman is easily the equal of the roguish Holmes and makes the viewer entirely believe that Moriarty may just be the smarter of the two. And director Ritchie, while indulging in lots of slo-motion punchy/explodey stuff, extended the battle as much into the mental realm and creates a genuine battle of wits that, like Conan Doyle's tales, the audience may not be able to anticipate but can always appreciate at the end.
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows still isn't as good as its two stars. But while it takes a clear step back at the start, the film manages to take two steps forward by its conclusion. I still hope RDJ and Law can get at least one Holmes movie where the script can live up to their outstanding work.