I always like the bastard child in a film series;

Rating: 6/10 (10 February 2020)

A Game of Shadows is the more OCD, less consistent, more creative, brisker and also somehow more protracted, more exciting and bolder entry. It's more flawed but more rewatchable, it's more confusing but it's far less boring.
It does bizzare things, like killing McAdams' character so early, and in such a way that is intentionally obfuscated, and it's a deeply messy movie with Ritchie's signature excess, to pave over the cracks in his ability.
But RDJ is clearly loving his role and Jared Harris' Moriarty is a fun, if inept, part. The chess match ending sequence(s) rivals anything the British TV show thinks is clever, with a nice nod to the books, and the action has a charged wit and an energy.
These films are well tooled machines and I have to say I'd be excited for the cheeky retro-modern escapades in a third entry.