A rare, "better" sequel...but could a third match up to it?

Rating: 9/10 (28 December 2011)

The original was enjoyable, but laborious in places - no fault of Messrs Ritchie, Law and Downey Jnr as necessary character introductions had to be made. Sequels have the benefit of establishment, but it is a rare sequel that equals or is even better than the original. GoS pulls it off; unrestrained by the 'setting up' exposition that the original had to plough through the story launches straight in and is all the better for it. Jude Law and Robert Downey Jr are clearly having a riot, and they transmit that sense of delight to the audience. The sequel is a lot more quips/banter/playful especially between the two leads, and unlike the original, Jude Law (mostly) remembers Watson's limp. Kelly Reilly excels as is the perfect Mrs Watson: brave (the train), competent (locating the money) and wryly empathetic to her husband's long relationship of affection and friendship, and that Holmes' emotional-psychological need for Watson's presence is greater than the other way around. My only quibble is that Rachel McAdams (Irene Adler) dies implausibly - such a savvy woman would not have let her guard down and in the books survived to emigrate to America. Above all the movie, via Moriarty, highlights the subtle truism Conan Doyle only hints at in the books, namely that Watson was never in as much danger from anyone else - literally, emotionally and psychologically - as he was from Sherlock Holmes. ACD grew up with a functional, but eventually a violently demented, alcoholic doctor father and knew, (to steal Hugh Laurie's line from House) that 'dangerous people don't break into your home, they already live there.' Holmes, either unintentionally in drug stupor or through some crazy case, was more likely than any bad guy to kill Watson or get him killed 'unnecessarily' - in GoS Holmes' emotional need to have Watson nearby nearly causes Watson's untimely demise on several occasions as well as his own. The emotional depth of the original stories is that Watson is perfectly well aware of this, and accepts it as being a worthwhile risk in being Sherlock Holmes friend. Which brings me finally to Jared Harris, an excellent performance; what's more, he's true to the books in that his appearance is slightly 'older' than Holmes - in the books Moriarty is at least 5 years old than Holmes, but most adaptations have them contemporaneous. Again, in the books, ACD's subtle hint was that Holmes was well on the way to being heir to Moriarty, but retained his humanity due to his friendship with Watson, a lucky encounter Moriarty had never had in his own life. I hope they try a third movie - in canon, of course, sadly Mary Morstan died shortly after Holmes' return into their lives and they were then faced with Colonel Sebastian Moran trying to take revenge (particularly against Watson, a fellow military man) for scuppering Moriarty's schemes - so there is plenty of scope for Mr Ritchie and Co, to go at. If so, I hope it retains the playfulness, banter and sense of emotional connection evident of the first two movies.