Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows review Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows review Ryan Fleming Pin it Share Sherlock Holmes has long been a name that is synonymous with detective work. He examines the evidence, eliminates the impossible, leaving only the truth no matter how improbable. He is the ultimate detective, and has become one of the most adapted characters in the history of film and stage. But despite the numerous actors that have played him, despite the time period each adaptation puts him in, and despite the characteristics that were emphasized, he has always been a thinking man’s champion for truth, justice, and all that jazz. Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows mostly does away with that in favor of having Holmes punch people in the face when not busy running from ‘splosions. It is everything ridiculous in Hollywood, and shows a stunning disregard for a beloved character that apparently needed to be dumbed down and actioned up. And yet, it is still an enjoyable move, almost despite itself. A Game of Shadows is not really a Sherlock Holmes film at. It is an action movie that just happens to feature a character named Sherlock Holmes, who occasionally is very smart. But that’s about it.

That doesn’t make it a bad movie, far from it, but it is basically just an action film with familiar characters. In terms of visual direction and pacing, it is about what you would expect from a Guy Ritchie film, especially after the 2009 original–it is fun to watch, but won’t tax your brain much. If you are looking for a crime thriller, or a film with several intelligent twists, this is not it. But if you are just looking for an entertaining and stylish action flick, you could do much worse than Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. The game is a foot in some guy’s face The film begins with Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) in the midst of his investigation of ”the Napoleon of Crime,” Professor James Moriarty (Jared Harris). Within minutes of the opening shot, Holmes finds himself in a fist fight while once again continuing his bizarre courtship with Irene Adler (Rachel McAdams), who continues to run errands for the Professor. View photos But while Holmes grows increasingly more obsessed with the shadowy professor, his friend—his only friend—Dr. Watson (Jude Law), is preparing to head down the aisle.

Under the auspices of giving him a stag party, Holmes takes Watson to a gentleman’s club, where they meet Sherlock’s brother Mycroft (Stephen Fry). But while Watson is gallivanting, Holmes is meeting with Sim (Noomi Rapace), a gypsy girl that is unwittingly a target of Moriarty. After another action packed escapade where Holmes uses his unique brand of detective-fu to save the girl while whooping on an assassin, Watson gets married, and Holmes and Moriarty finally meet face to face. Holmes tries to make sure that Watson is safe since he is no longer part of Holmes’ investigation, but Moriarty refuses, which sends Holmes after his erstwhile companion and eventually on a chase through Europe to stop a brewing war. The plot is a solid and well thought-out adventure–until about half way through. There is a point where the film seems to suddenly say “to hell with it,” and gives up on the detective angle altogether. There is a murder that not only defies logic and is an impossibility due to the technology of the times, but it just doesn’t make sense. It was as if Moriarty planned the perfect crime, then planned another much dumber crime on top of it.

It would be like getting away with robbing a bank but stopping to break into an ATM on the way out—it is almost exactly that dumb. View photos It is at this point that logic meekly bows its head and decides to just take the rest of the film off. The detective work becomes retroactive, and the story forces improbable moments in order to justify pushing Holmes and his friends in the right direction. It feels as if someone much simpler suddenly took over the writing duties. The 2009 Sherlock Holmes wasn’t exactly The Usual Suspects, but it at least followed its own logic and offered an interesting twist that fit with the film’s facts. A Game of Shadows tries that, but it just doesn’t work. At all. Once Moriarty’s true intentions are revealed, the film abandons all pretense of being a detective story in favor of being an adrenaline fueled action flick. It tries to include a clever reversal once Holmes finds himself in a difficult situation, but it is so insanely improbable on so many levels that it is hard to swallow. Watson even asks how Holmes pulled off a near god-like combination of luck and unbelievable foresight, to which Holmes (and the script) has no answer and the question is left to drop.

Then the film also punches history in the face. Now, there are plenty of period movies that take certain liberties with historical facts, and A Game of Shadows is no different. That is fine for the most part, but the plot introduces technology that is decades more advanced than it should be. You could write that off as Moriarty being a super-genius and it would work, but it feels more like lazy writing. The amazing Victorian era possibilities become an inconvenience, and are soon forgotten. It is a shame too, because Ritchie has a good eye for showing a realistic portrayal of the 1890s. But apparently it wasn’t sexy enough. An action packed chase then happens, as extremely well-armed soldiers–traipsing through their own back yard–are thwarted by a train escape. Sure, the soldiers could easily have intercepted the train because it, ya know, moves in a straight line and all, but the plot dictates that they don’t so that despite the very real threat of death from their superiors, they just call it a day. Again, lazy writing. It also sets up yet another insanely unlikely moment that is the final deathblow for any hopes the movie had of being clever.

At the end, it tries, bless its little heart, but the script just laid down and died long ago. Amazingly though, the film still manages to be fun and entertaining. R.I.P. Detective Holmes While the detective nature of the film was taken behind the woodshed and brutally murdered somewhere around the halfway mark, the film still manages to be enjoyable, thanks mainly to the cast and Ritchie’s visual style. Ritchie has a very distinct look that has served him well over the years, and it shows again here. He manages to keep the film moving along briskly (which helps to cover some of the more offensively bad plot holes), then when the action scenes come he creates a great look for them. As an answer to the gods, here is an action movie that does not rely on difficult to follow quick cuts, but instead uses stylish camera angles, followed by an artful use of slow motion, freeze frames, and multiple angles that allow the camera to move even while the action is frozen. It is nice to actually see some of the effects being thrown at us for a change. While the story is stupid at parts, it is also somewhat charming at times.

The dialog between Holmes and Watson is endearing, and there are some genuinely funny moments. Fry also adds a bit of color and life in a supporting role, and Paul Anderson’s portrayal as Moriarty’s right-hand man, Sebastian Moran, comes off as suitably menacing. Downey once again turns in a good performance as the interesting and unpredictable Holmes, but as with the last film, the character is best when used in reaction to others. Watson is the straight man to Holmes’ slightly insane and socially inept personality, and both Law and Downey Jr. have an easy chemistry. Rapace also does an exceptional job throughout, given that she really doesn’t have much to do other than help guide the plot. Like her character’s backstory, her dialog is slim, leaving her to create a character mostly through her body language, which she does incredibly well. She oozes intensity, and eats the screen when she is given a chance, which is sadly not enough. The real breakthrough performance is Jared Harris (MadMen, Extraordinary Measures) as Moriarty. The scenes between Holmes and Moriarty are a highlight of the film, but again the screenplay seems to get in the way.

Harris sells the character incredibly well, but the script paints him as less than he could be. Moriarty is the perfect nemesis for Holmes in theory, but in the end the plot forces him into a role that could have been any criminal mastermind. Other than an exceptional performance by Harris and a few brief moments, the potential of Moriarty is wasted. If you are familiar with the actual stories, then the portrayal of Moriarty will be disappointing. Harris brings to life an otherwise fairly typical big-screen villain, but you never get the sense that he is the ultimate criminal genius that he should be. Conclusion If you are hoping to see fiction’s greatest detective use his prowess to find clues and unravel a compelling mystery, you will be disappointed. If you are looking for an action film this December, then you will probably enjoy A Game of Shadows. It is almost better to watch the film as if it were a superhero flick, as Holmes seems to have the ability to magically change the script in order to suit his insanely lucky deductions. There is no logic to it, and the film doesn’t really even bother to try.

Despite it all though—the giant plot holes, the ridiculous “deductions,” the fairly poor characterization of Moriarty—the film manages to succeed as an entertaining movie, thanks mostly to the cast and crew. Besides the giant plot holes, the story isn’t bad, but the script does the cast no favors. But the visual acuity and pacing help gloss over the ridiculous detective-ish moments, and the cast is so strong—especially Harris—that you can buy into their roles simply through the performances. Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows is a terrible Holmes movie, but a good action flick. You will just have to accept that in order to enjoy the film, but it can and probably should be done. Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows – review | Film | The Guardian The Observer Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows – review Sherlock Holmes is transformed into a man of action in Guy Ritchie's latest reimagining of the Victorian sleuth Noomi Rapace, Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law in the ‘high-octane’ Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.

Photograph: Daniel Smith Saturday 17 December 2011 19.24 EST First published on Saturday 17 December 2011 19.24 EST Share on Messenger Close A crippled veteran, returning to London from Afghanistan and forced to live on a small pension, finds a flatmate who turns out to be a drug addict. They become close friends and this other man eventually tells the ex-soldier that Britain is heading for disaster but will emerge "a cleaner, better, stronger land" and suggests they rush to the bank to cash a cheque before its signatory reneges. The subject of this highly topical story is, as you've probably guessed, Dr John H Watson, narrator of the Sherlock Holmes stories. He's well played by Jude Law in Guy Ritchie's second Holmes movie as a sensible, intelligent, reliable chap, even if he too readily explodes or expostulates when confronted by his flatmate's outrageous behaviour. But while the film's art director and costume designer give us an attractive version of late Victorian society, Robert Downey Jr's Holmes is from the end of the next century. His stubble is not even of the designer kind, his dress what passes now as "smart casual".

The introspective, contemplative, ratiocinative, philosophic aspect of Holmes gets obscured as Ritchie turns him into a 21st-century man of action in the mould of Indiana Jones and Daniel Craig's ultra-tough James Bond. We know that Holmes practised the martial art known as baritsu, but Downey has the fighting skills of an SAS trooper, the agility of a trapeze artist, the stamina of a long-distance runner and the physique of a man with a personal trainer. Like Bond, he endures pain and torture as he's beaten by thugs, injected by deadly poisons and suspended by a meat hook stuck into his chest. The background mood is right, a complacent, seemingly optimistic 1890s bustling with energy, but with something dangerous rumbling underneath that is more than the tube station being built near 221B Baker Street. A vast conspiracy is being launched by the great mathematician Professor Moriarty, but only Holmes can do the maths necessary to realise that all the bombings and assassinations around Europe are part of the Napoleon of crime's plan to foment war between France and Germany.

The aim apparently is to make the professor rich through his recently established control of armament factories that will eventually fulfil his megalomaniac ambitions. But while the intrigue is persuasive and related to many of the concerns of fin-de-siècle politics and the melodramatic literature of the period, the nonstop action is very much of our current cinema. The movie begins with a vast explosion in Strasbourg followed by similar pyrotechnics in London, Paris and Germany, which punctuate endless chases, fights on trains and battles that result in a body count that anticipates the world war Holmes seeks to avert. Pinterest The frenzy is actually increased by the device of sudden flashbacks using high-speed editing to explain how the great detective-chessmaster had anticipated, then executed, a succession of clever moves that resulted in the violent triumph we've just witnessed. There is not, however, too much time in this high-octane narrative for the development of character. Naturally, the women don't get their due. Irene Adler (Rachel McAdams), the love of Holmes's life, appears fleetingly.

In a major comic coup that makes the audience draw its breath and laugh heartlessly, Holmes throws Watson's wife from a train as it crosses a viaduct at night. Noomi Rapace, the striking heroine from The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, stalks mysteriously through the picture as a fortune teller as if she'd been told to think she's appearing in the gypsy encampment sequence in From Russia With Love. The three Ms – Moriarty, Moran and Mycroft – come out rather better. The screenwriters, Michele and Kieran Mulroney, have drawn on Conan Doyle's novel The Valley of Fear for Moriarty's character and background, and on the story "The Final Problem" for the film's climactic encounter between Moriarty and Holmes at an anachronistically named "summit conference" beside the Reichenbach Falls. And Jared Harris plays him as a ratty or foxy type, rather different from the gaunt senior undertaker depicted by Sidney Paget in The Strand Magazine. The ex-army marksman turned assassin Colonel Sebastian Moran is a forceful presence as played by Paul Anderson.

Stephen Fry has the right portly build and detached manner for Holmes's older brother, the establishment fixer Mycroft (a part in which Christopher Lee was wholly miscast in Billy Wilder's Holmes movie). He is, however, embarrassing when conducting a breakfast-time conversation with Watson's wife while naked, and he introduces an unnecessarily camp element by addressing Holmes as "Sherly", presumably a reference to the famous "and stop calling me Shirley" joke in Airplane!. Hans Zimmer's melodramatic score incorporates arias from Mozart's Don Giovanni and a jaunty Morricone theme from Two Mules for Sister Sara. Watching this movie, I was constantly thinking of my friend and colleague, the brilliant wit, critic, novelist, translator and pasticheur Gilbert Adair, who died 10 days ago. Especially his postmodern trilogy of parodic detective stories which conclude at a Sherlock Holmes conference in Meiringen, where Adair himself plunges into the Reichenbach Falls with his own central character.

Adair calls non-canonical Watson narratives "Schlock Holmes", but the final book in his series, And Then There Was No One, contains the best Holmes pastiche ever written, a 30-page re-creation of The Giant Rat of Sumatra, a tale referred to by Watson in "The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire" and called "a story for which the world is not yet prepared". I must declare a slight personal interest here, as there's a pretentious movie critic in the book called Philippe Françaix. Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows on iTunes by Broken Headphones When it was released in 2009, the Guy Ritchie-directed adaptation of "Sherlock Holmes" certainly gave the legendary sleuth the modern update he deserved. Filled with stylish action set pieces, strong performances from a talented ensemble cast and backed up by a brilliant score, the film easily became one of my personal favorite mystery-adventure movies ever. So when "A Game of Shadows", the much-anticipated sequel, finally came to theaters, my friends and I were more than reluctant to see it on opening day. And for the most part, it didn't disappoint. But that's not to say it didn't have its share of flaws.

The film follows Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey, Jr.) once again as he and his friend and colleague Dr. John Watson (Jude Law) set out to defeat their greatest nemesis yet, a new criminal mastermind at large named Dr. Moriarty (Jared Harris). Not only is he Holmes' intellectual equal, but his capacity for evil, along with a complete lack of conscience, may actually give him an advantage over the renowned detective. Holmes' investigation into Moriarty's nefarious plot becomes more dangerous as it leads him and Watson out of London and all across Europe. But the villainous professor is always one step ahead of the duo as he spins a web of death and destruction-all part of a greater plan that, if he succeeds, will change the very course of history. I have to say, this movie really surprised me in ways I never thought it would. Not only did it greatly expand on the personality and philosophy of Holmes' mysterious persona, but the story consistently kept me on my feet with the its unpredictable twists and turns. Of course, like in the first film, Robert Downey, Jr.

effortlessly steals the spotlight as the titular character, owning the screen with his humorous dialogue, over-the-top behavior and impressive fighting skills. Coupled with Jude Law's brilliantly unconventional representation of Watson, the two leading men deliver some of the best on-screen chemistry ever portrayed in any franchise. In addition to the flick's commendable performances, Hans Zimmer's epic score carries every scene with tension and excitement, the story's pacing is fluidly fast-paced and the larger-than-life cinematography is simply breathtaking. Although there are so many great things to say about "Sherlock Holmes 2", it does tend to falter at times. Because the script is more concerned with delivering constant action than telling a solid, cohesive story, it often makes the movie feel too chaotic and convoluted than it should be. Also, the banter between Holmes and Moriarty can get somewhat tired and formulaic after a while. But for what it had to offer, I enjoyed this sequel as a whole. The characters are fun and engaging and the spontaneous fighting sequences are extremely well-choreographed. Even more impressive is the fact that the grand scale of it all is just so staggering in quality and size.

In the end, I'd definitely recommend renting or buying "A Game of Shadows", especially if you're a full-on action-suspense junkie like me. It may not reach the same heights as its predecessor, but it still makes for an exceptionally entertaining, adrenaline-fueled treat! Freaking Amazing! by Alkies Went to the theatre to see this, Twice! Outstanding action+Outstanding acting+Outstanding Plot = OUTSTANDING MOVIE! My wife and I were on the edge of our seats. The musical score, done of course by the one and only Hans Zimmer made the movie even more compeling. Definately worth a rent, but I'll definately be purchasing this as soon as it hits HD As good as the first! by Nappyair Don't listen to critics! if u loved the first film, then get ready for an even better story this time around! Viewers Also Bought Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011) - IMDb IMDb 17 January 2017 4:34 PM, UTC NEWS There was an error trying to load your rating for this title. Some parts of this page won't work property. Please reload or try later.

X Beta I'm Watching This! Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. Error Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows ( 2011 ) PG-13 | From $2.99 (SD) on Amazon Video ON DISC Sherlock Holmes and his sidekick Dr. Watson join forces to outwit and bring down their fiercest adversary, Professor Moriarty. Director: Famous Directors: From Sundance to Prominence From Christopher Nolan to Quentin Tarantino and every Coen brother in between, many of today's most popular directors got their start at the Sundance Film Festival . Here's a list of some of the biggest names to go from Sundance to Hollywood prominence.

a list of 31 titles created 18 Jan 2011 a list of 41 titles created 22 Aug 2012 a list of 30 titles created 29 Oct 2012 a list of 38 titles created 04 Jan 2013 a list of 32 titles created 15 Mar 2015 Title: Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011) 7.5/10 Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. 2 wins & 11 nominations. See more awards » Videos Detective Sherlock Holmes and his stalwart partner Watson engage in a battle of wits and brawn with a nemesis whose plot is a threat to all of England. Director: Guy Ritchie King Leonidas of Sparta and a force of 300 men fight the Persians at Thermopylae in 480 B.C. Director: Zack Snyder Danny Ocean and his eleven accomplices plan to rob three Las Vegas casinos simultaneously.

Director: Steven Soderbergh An adaptation of Homer's great epic, the film follows the assault on Troy by the united Greek forces and chronicles the fates of the men involved. Director: Wolfgang Petersen A bored married couple is surprised to learn that they are both assassins hired by competing agencies to kill each other. Director: Doug Liman Jack Sparrow races to recover the heart of Davy Jones to avoid enslaving his soul to Jones' service, as other friends and foes seek the heart for their own agenda as well. Director: Gore Verbinski Daniel Ocean recruits one more team member so he can pull off three major European heists in this sequel to Ocean's 11. Director: Steven Soderbergh Danny Ocean rounds up the boys for a third heist, after casino owner Willy Bank double-crosses one of the original eleven, Reuben Tishkoff. Director: Steven Soderbergh Captain Barbossa, Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann must sail off the edge of the map, navigate treachery and betrayal, find Jack Sparrow, and make their final alliances for one last decisive battle.

Director: Gore Verbinski A police officer joins a secret organization that polices and monitors extraterrestrial interactions on Earth. Director: Barry Sonnenfeld When Tony Stark's world is torn apart by a formidable terrorist called the Mandarin, he starts an odyssey of rebuilding and retribution. Director: Shane Black Jack Sparrow and Barbossa embark on a quest to find the elusive fountain of youth, only to discover that Blackbeard and his daughter are after it too. Director: Rob Marshall Edit Storyline Sherlock Holmes ( Robert Downey Jr. ) and his longtime trusted associate, Doctor Watson ( Jude Law ), take on their arch-nemesis, Professor Moriarty ( Jared Harris ), with the help of Holmes' older brother Mycroft Holmes ( Stephen Fry ) and a gypsy named Simza ( Noomi Rapace ).

Written by ABID NAZIR Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, and some drug material | See all certifications » Parents Guide: 16 December 2011 (USA) See more » Also Known As: Sherlock Holmes 2 See more » Filming Locations: $39,637,079 (USA) (16 December 2011) Gross: Did You Know? Trivia Brad Pitt , Gary Oldman , Daniel Day-Lewis , Sean Penn and Javier Bardem were considered to play Moriarty. See more » Goofs When Holmes and Moriarty are playing chess, Moriarty "castles" after Holmes puts him in check. You can not castle while in check. See more » Quotes [first lines] Dr. John Watson : [voice-over] The year was 1891. Storm clouds were brewing over Europe. France and Germany were at each other's throats, the result of a series of bombings. Some said it was the Nationalists. Others, the anarchists. But as usual, my friend Sherlock Holmes, had a different theory entirely.

See more » Crazy Credits The Warner Bros/Village Roadshow/Silver Pictures logos, opening title, closing title and part of the closing credits appear in the pages of Dr. Watson's manuscript, with the latter two accompanied by illustrations of scenes from the film. See more » Connections Courtesy of Deutsche Grammophon GmbH (Germany) Under license from Universal Music Operations Ltd. (United States) – See all my reviews Professor Moriarty: Are you sure you want to play this game? Sherlock Holmes: I'm afraid you'd lose. In Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, my mind turns two ways: The first half is guns, gunpowder, and gymnastics. Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey, Jr.) and Dr. Watson (Jude Law) contend with the salvation of civilization mostly through athletics, aided by director Guy Ritchie's considerable skill with the camera and graphics. But in the second half, when the duo moves swiftly but intellectually to confront the arch villain Professor James Moriarty (Jared Harris), my mind is at equilibrium, renewing my love of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's original brainy, eccentric sleuth. The chess game is a marvel of strategy, replete with revenge, intrigue, and just plain ingenuity.

Director Guy Ritchie's visuals include delightful Downey disguises and lively speed ramping in a forest bombarded by bullets. Hans Zimmer's music leans heavily on the fiddle to lighten the load of a difficult plot. Watson's marriage, rather than taking away from the bromance, adds unexpected color and creativity. So Ritchie has ramped up the intellectual content and at least balanced it with the athletic, which was a strength of his 2009 version, Sherlock Holmes. With Inspector Lastrade just a memory and Holmes's love, Irene Adler (Rachel McAdams), appearing briefly, we are left to enjoy not so much the interaction of Holmes and Watson but the explosiveness of Holmes and Moriarty. After a first half of explosions, the second half satisfies traditionalists like me for the chess game of life and deathand that's the suspenseful fate of the world in those pieces. Director Guy Ritchie has improved on his 2009 version. 129 of 196 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you?

Yes Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows Movie Review (2011) | Roger Ebert Tweet I suppose any hope of an authentic Sherlock Holmes movie is foolish at this epoch in movie history. No matter that a story is set in 1895 in Victorian London, it must be chockablock with explosions, gunfire, special effects and fights that bear no comparison to the "fisticuffs" of the period. As an Anglophile, I've luxuriated in the genial atmosphere of the Conan Doyle stories, where a step is heard on the stair, a client tells his tale, and Holmes withdraws to his rooms to consider his new case during a period of meditation (involving such study aids as opium). Advertisement We see a great deal of Victorian London (and Paris and Switzerland) in "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows," but we must look quickly. The movie all but hurtles through episodes that would be leisurely set pieces in a traditional Holmes story. This is a modern action picture played in costume. I knew it would be. After Guy Ritchie 's " Sherlock Holmes " (2009) with Robert Downey Jr.

and Jude Law grossed something like half a billion dollars, this was no time to rethink the approach. What they have done, however, is add a degree of refinement and invention, and I enjoyed this one more than the earlier film. "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows" opens with an emergency that threatens to rock Holmes' world: Dr. Watson (Law) is getting married. In the first film, we learned of his engagement to Mary Watson ( Kelly Reilly ), and now a date has been set for the poor girl. Holmes (Downey), who considers himself every bit as much good company as the doctor could possibly require, deplores this development, and indeed even joins the blissful couple on their honeymoon train journey. At one point, he throws Mary off the train, but to be fair, it's to save her life. Most of the film centers on a climax in the long-standing feud between Holmes and Professor James Moriarty ( Jared Harris ), who beneath his cover as an Oxford don, is the mastermind of an anarchist plot to use bombings and assassinations to push Europe into war.

Moriarty would profit handsomely from that because he operates an enormous secret munitions factory, turning out everything from machine pistols to gigantic cannons. The lives of many European heads of state are threatened, and Holmes is the only hope to keep the peace. Advertisement Once this game is afoot, it seems too large to be contained by the eccentric investigator of 221B Baker Street and Watson, his intimate. (I am using "intimate" as both a noun and an insinuation.) It's more of a case for James Bond, and Moriarty's grandiosity seems on a scale with a Bond villain. Guy Ritchie and his writers Michele and Kieran Mulroney , however, wisely devote some of their best scenes to one-on-ones between Holmes and Moriarty. Their struggle comes to a head in an elegant, high-stakes chess game, held for some reason in Switzerland in the dead of a winter night on a snowy outdoor balcony. As played by Jared Harris, Moriarty doesn't gnash or fulminate, but fences with Holmes in barbed language. This returns the story somewhat to the Conan Doyle tradition that Holmes did most of his best work in his mind. Dr. Watson has a more proactive role this time.

"A Game of Shadows" opens with him recalling these events on a typewriter that is too modern for 1895 but maybe suggests he's writing years later. He's not just a confidante and chronicler but a hero, too, involved in fights and shootouts. His wife must be thankful that Holmes abruptly eliminated her from most of the action. Advertisement Mycroft, Holmes' brother, turns out to be well-placed at the center of European diplomacy; Stephen Fry has plummy good fun in the role, especially in nude moments where he shields his netherlands from view by employing artfully arranged foregrounds in the "Austin Powers" tradition. Two women characters are prominent. Back again is Irene Adler ( Rachel McAdams ), the enigmatic figure in much romantic speculation about Holmes. And we meet for the first time a gypsy fortune teller named Madame Simza Heron, played by Noomi Rapace , the original "Girl With the Dragon Tattoo." She capably discharges the duties required of her as Madam Heron, but demonstrates how really brilliantly conceived the Dragon Lady was. Heron is pale by comparison. It's Downey's movie.

With his cool, flippant manner, his Holmes stands apart from the danger, thinking it through visually before performing it, remaining insouciant in the face of calamity. He appears in many disguises, one with a markedly bad wig, another as a remarkably convincing chair. The thing to do, I suppose, is to set aside your memories of the Conan Doyle stories, save them to savor on a night this winter and enjoy this movie as a high-caliber entertainment. Popular Blog Posts Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows - Movies & TV on Google Play Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows December 2011 Item added to wishlist. Item removed from wishlist. You will receive an email when your movie becomes available. You will not be charged until it is released. ( 5,135) Synopsis The game is afoot once more! Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law reprise their roles as Holmes and Watson in the supersleuth sequel to the mystery megahit that minted over a half billion dollars worldwide.

While vying with Watson's soon-to-be wife for the Doctor's time and attention, the detective extraordinaire matches wits with his arch-nemesis Professor Moriarty (Mad Men's Jared Harris), a criminal genius who's conspiring to make a fortune by manufacturing the next generation of wartime weaponry that the world's great powers will be forced to use against one another... once Moriarty succeeds in provoking World War I, of course. Joining the dynamic duo on their adventure is a feisty gypsy (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo's Noomi Rapace) and Sherlock's craftier but crazier older brother Mycroft (Stephen Fry). My review It's complete trash and makes a mockery of Holmes's vaunted deductive reasoning. Leonard Maltin The production is still needlessly overlong and overblown, a far cry from your father's (or even your cousin's) conception of the master detective. But it's certainly lively and has clever moments that involve Holmes' keen powers of observation... Adam Graham Downey's career is something of a game of shadows, but it's one still worth playing, for now. Lisa Kennedy Downey and Law remain this presumptive franchise's draw.

Peter Rainer What this film really celebrates is crunch-and-thud video-game-style action, not especially well choreographed by director Guy Ritchie. Bruce Demara It doesn't take a master of deduction to see that Ritchie has decided to play it too safe with this sequel. Critic reviews Full Review Leonard Maltin The production is still needlessly overlong and overblown, a far cry from your father's (or even your cousin's) conception of the master detective. But it's certainly lively and has clever moments that involve Holmes' keen powers of observation... Adam Graham Downey's career is something of a game of shadows, but it's one still worth playing, for now. Peter Rainer What this film really celebrates is crunch-and-thud video-game-style action, not especially well choreographed by director Guy Ritchie. Full Review Bruce Demara It doesn't take a master of deduction to see that Ritchie has decided to play it too safe with this sequel. Full Review Peter Travers In an act of criminal negligence, Ritchie has wasted Robert Downey Jr. in a sequel that eliminates smarts in favor of relentless headbanging.

User reviews A Google User June 14, 2012 PUTRID PLAGERISM This movie is a travesty on Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories. The joy of the real stuff is the intellectual challenges Holmes faces and his near-magical powers of observation and deduction. Sherlock Holmes stories are NOT action-filled. Whether this movie is any good or not, it is about as far from the real stories as one could get. THIS MOVIE IS THE WORST ADAPTATION OF STORIES IN PRINT THAT I HAVE EVER SEEN, AND, BEING 77 YRS OF AGE, I'VE SEEN MANY OF THEM. A NEW LOW IN MOVIE PORTRAYAL OF A WONDERFUL CHARACTER IN THE BOOKS. IF FREE TO DO SO, I WOULD GIVE IT MINUS 5 STARS, OR A 5 STAR BLACK HOLE RATING. TERRIBLE !! Full Review A Google User June 17, 2012 Well done Guy He strikes once, and he strikes again what weapon does he weild? None other than the poison dart named Sherlock Holmes, who in my opinion is portrayed rather well in this action film.

You know what time it is, SPOILER ALERT! In the begining of this film, Guy manages to pull off yet again, the "real life" feeling in the dialogue. When the film starts rolling, and the action picks up, wow, the amazing premeditation scenes where Sherlock sees how the fight will go, was accurate to the real fighting. Impressive Full Review A Google User July 10, 2012 Says movie is downloaded but it stopped at 57 minutes and has been buffering for hours. Im using a Samsung Galaxy 4G unless you have WIFI for entire viewing dont fall for Google Movies. Why do they sell stuff that they know wont eork. come on google dont you have enough money. 4 bucks for 24 hours of buffering. Full Review A Google User October 26, 2014 Good Movie, Bad Google So, after mid way through watching it online, it stops. This is a problem for me. I love this movie and wanted to watch it with some friends. I'm not sure if its due to getting the HD version or what but either way, taking "x" amount of dollars and not delivering what I paid for is not okay.

I tried to restart and refresh several times and it stopped every time. Full Review Cody Dewan May 17, 2014 Very good. Probably the best portrayal of Sherlock Holmes in a movie. But as the books did not contain as much, "action"based sequences as both of the movies have, I can understand the ill respite from avid fans of the older franchise that chose to dull the books for more appeal to the readers of the old penny dreadful, which labeled Holmes as a more aggressive detective willing to do anything for facts. The filmmakers rendition of a more aggressive Sherlock has me personally entranced Full Review A Google User June 27, 2012 Impeccable I don't know what they could have done to make this movie any better. The acting is superlative and the script is well written. The action sequences are amazing. I am particularly fond of the way Holmes analyzes his method of attack in slow motion and then it comes to pass. I haven't been this enamored with a series of movies since The Lord Of The Rings and that was really more because of the story than the acting and dialogue.

Full Review Jamaal Eastmond November 20, 2014 Movie is an understatement, more like Masterpiece d Comedy aspect: 5 star material. Story: 5 star material. Acting: 5 star material, there is absolutely nothing about this movie that was wrong. Not that I have anything against Sherlock Holmes or Robert Downey Jr, but I would never have expected this as an outcome from the two. I am so confident in this film, that I'd be willing to say that this is arguably one of the top ten greatest movies made for the years of 2000. Full Review A Google User August 14, 2012 Could not take it any longer. I stopped the movie about half way into it. Just over all a bad movie. Full Review Tim Musician October 22, 2015 Terrible Kind of ok ACTION movie but that's not what I want out of a Sherlock Holmes movie. I would have rather had a murder mystery with very good story telling. Character development. NOT a cgi fu€£ fest. Full Review A Google User June 24, 2012 On the stories To begin with, this movie was simply amazing.

With that being said, I would like to address the closeness to the original stories. While the stories do not hold many action scenes, the do hold a few, which are evident in a A Scandal In Bohemian and The Final Problem. Further more, one must take into account that the adventures of Sherlock Holmes were not originally books, but short stories Conan Doyle wrote for a newspaper called Strand Magazine, so a movie exact to the stories would be highly confusing. Full Review Nichole C June 26, 2016 Great! Funny, yet serious. Amazing duo. World-class acting. Nope. I can't find one bad thing about this movie. I will recommend this to everyone, including you, person who is reading this. Make sure to watch the first one too! It's equally amazing and very suspenseful. I am so desperate for a third! The end was amazing, yet it left me thirsty for more. A Google User June 13, 2012 Boring Both sherlock holmes movies where terrible. My love robert downey jr. Hes a badass actor Full Review Mark Edward November 29, 2014 Not as good as the first.

Some of the action scenes were very well filmed, but the plot was harder to follow in terms of 'the mystery'. Full Review A Google User June 23, 2012 Great movie Its nice u can rent movies but I would rather buy it then wasting $4 just for one time. So hey Google when are we goin to be able to do that Full Review A Google User July 2, 2012 Good, but not great It wasn't as good as the first one, but it was still fun and better than most of what is out there. I think they went a little heavy on the camera tricks trying to have a 'style', but the story pulls them through. Full Review Jake Genz August 18, 2014 Love this!! I have been a fan of sherlock for a while now and then THIS staggering beauty came along and made me puke rainbows :D Full Review A Google User July 5, 2012 The First Movie Was Better This one made me fall asleep. Sometimes it is not a good idea to make sequels. I love Robert Downey and all his movies, but this one was a dud. Wait for the. 99 price.

Full Review A Google User June 20, 2012 Great! I bought the dvd before seeing the movie because everyone I talked to loved it, and now I do too! Anyone else wonder what happened to the ring Sherlock gave Watson and Mary in the first movie? It was a different ring in this movie...just wondering. Full Review A Google User June 16, 2012 Addiction At first, I didn't think I'd like these movies. I love the books, but i wasn't too found of new remakes of movies. Yet the first one, and this one are amazing. I enjoy them both and recommend either! Show them to your teens, if you're a parent. It could get them to read. Full Review Mike Krum October 4, 2014 Sherlock Holmes, A game of Shadows True to form, Robert Downey, Jr. makes another movie well worth watching. Sequels don't usually live up to the original, however, not so with this one as I enjoyed it as much as the original.

Full Review A Google User June 21, 2012 Seth Dickens movay almos seeda men but not quiet cuz guy richy didn't make explosions I doubt gandolf lieks movie, suggest pina colida if not try again plox or make realm of mad good movie Full Review Lc D December 4, 2012 TERRIFIC!! Sequel was just as awesome as the original- glad it's not my job to decide which was best! Very happy Downey triumphed over the addiction evils to give us such fantastic performances- Both Sherlock movies deserve 8 stars! Full Review A Google User June 14, 2012 An excellent follow up to Ritchie's first Holmes film. Well shot and well acted. Not the greatest story, but incorporates elements of Doyle's original stories quite well. The chemistry between Downey and Law alone makes it worth watching, and give it considerable replay value. Full Review A Google User October 25, 2012 Epic This movie knocked me off my feet. The part where they are running through the forest is dumb, but the rest is unbelievable. Full Review A Google User June 12, 2012 Brilliant...

Just as brilliant as most of these muppets that write their gibberish reviews here. Grow up, please? Or at least learn to spell... Full Review Ignacio TROUBLE Ramos August 15, 2015 SHERLOCK HOLMES I SEEN THE FIRST ONE AND THE SECOND THEY WE'RE BOREING AND DISAPPOINTING. WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY I WANT MY MONEY BACK 😡😴 Nathan Markel April 3, 2014 Hilarious! This one is way better than the original. Moriarty is chilling and evil! Full Review A Google User August 5, 2012 Ugh, thanks google Of course an error would pop up when pay four bucks. Please fix or return my money! Full Review A Google User July 5, 2012 CYNTHIA M. I, HAVE NOT SEEN THIS CINEMATIC, TRUE ART, YET! BUT, I CANNOT HARDLY, WAIT TO. IT IS AS, IF I AM LITERALLY! GOING BACK THROUGH TIME. FROM, WHAT I HAVE SEEN!!! THANK YOU! FOR YOUR PERFECT, CHOICE OF SHERLOCK HOLMES.

SINCERELY, CYNTHIA M. ROSSER-SHAY Full Review Bryan Counts June 22, 2014 Great...but feels reused They reused stuff from the first one that made the first one so great. Not enough of lestraud and too much of Mycroft. Although....that slo-mo scene in the forest while they're being shot at...that was undeniably awesome!!! Full Review Margarita Martinez October 5, 2016 Loved it I have to agree that the movie doesn't follow too closely with the book description and mannerisms of Sherlock Holmes but I really admire this version of Watson being an actual partner and contributor to Holmes, while most other movies and shows have him as more of comedic relief Full Review dgstrong71 January 31, 2015 "Dynamic new portrayal" would be an accurate description It was an enjoyable movie but the actors didn't accurately portray the characters as Arthur Conan Doyle wrote in his books. Also, some of the props was out of time and place for the 1800's.

Full Review A Google User June 30, 2012 Droid razor Was robbed play store is a joke if your looking at a new phone buy a i phone Full Review A Google User September 19, 2012 Meh This is the kind of movie that makes this ask out loud: "Why did you bother to make this ?" Full Review A Google User July 30, 2012 Great fun, quality production Loved this movie, I downloaded the rental to watch on a flight but I will buy this on blu-ray.This is a fun adventure from start to finish with tons of realistic effects. The high quality production makes out a joy to watch. Full Review Damon Jones December 31, 2015 Game of Shadows To me this movie is a cut above the rest of the modern thrill ride movie. It covers every facet from humor to suspense; and the writing, acting, and direction of Guy Ritchie are all top notch. I like historical/period pieces in general, and this movie feels very authentic. Full Review A Google User July 11, 2012 A must-see!

The only movie in YEARS longer than 1 1/2 he's that I could actually sit through without getting angry or bored. A Google User July 9, 2012 Not good Bad acting; bad directing/producing. Full Review A Google User July 8, 2012 Action Packed and Funny Loved the level of action in this movie. Wish the rental was for two days instead of one. I have to rent it again to catch some things I missed. Full Review Timothy Butterworth September 20, 2014 Fast Paced and Entertaining This film was fast paced and entertaining. It had lots of unpredictable scenes starting out and did not have any really boring moments at all.

Question: Which US actor played him in the 2011 film, ‘Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows’?
Answer: ROBERT DOWNEY JUNIOR