"We're playing cat and mouse, the Professor and I. Cloak and dagger."

Rating: 8/10 (19 October 2018)

The decades old rivalry between Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) and arch-enemy Moriarty (Jared Harris) is rekindled in this second movie of the updated franchise, making the villain's belated appearance a welcome one. I kind of missed him in "Sherlock Holmes", though there was a tease of his eventual appearance near the end of that picture provided by Miss Irene Adler (Rachel McAdams). So on the flip side, it was a bit disappointing that she didn't have a larger role in this story, though it seems to me that situation will be rectified in future installments of this new series.
I'm still trying to get used to the idea of Holmes being a martial arts whiz, but it grows on you after a few viewings. Jude Law's Dr. Watson proves himself to be quite the scrapper as well, and I find it refreshing that his partnership with Holmes is on a more equitable basis than was ever seen in the Holmes flicks of the Thirties and Forties. Nigel Bruce would portray the good doctor as a comedic foil in most cases, whereas director Guy Ritchie affords Watson with an intellect almost as sharp as Holmes, and a cleverness that gets the proverbial sleuth out of more than his share of jams.
In a throwback to the cinema origins of Sherlock Holmes however, one's sense of finality when it comes to the demise of Moriarty will I'm sure, be sorely tested in a sequel. I was always amazed to see Holmes and Moriarty casually engaged in verbal combat in pictures of an earlier era, knowing what bitter enemies they were. In fact, as far back as 1945's "The Woman in Green", Basil Rathbone's Holmes would calmly declare to his rival Moriarty (Henry Daniell), that "We shall walk through the gates of eternity hand in hand". It looked like that might have been the case in this film, even if Holmes's comeback wasn't quite adequately explained. Therefore it's a given that Moriarty will show up again in the future. After all, he died falling from obscene heights in 1935 ("The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes"), 1942 ("Sherlock Holmes and The Secret Weapon"), and again in 1945 ("The Woman in Green"). No reason to believe he won't be back again, more dastardly than ever.