Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows Movie Review [6.3/10]
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows - Movie Review
Review by The Orange County Register
For much of the cinema’s history, the movies have had the good sense to keep Sherlock Holmes’ nemesis Professor Moriarty off camera, an unseen menace made all the more menacing by his absence.
Guy Ritchie’s “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows” puts the infamous Professor M. face to face with Holmes. They parry, trade threats and play chess. But as the evil genius is played the unimposing Jared Harris (“Mad Men,” “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”), you can’t help but wonder why Robert Downey Jr. doesn’t just dope-slap this shrimp and “crack on.”
It’s not a fatal case of miscasting. “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows,” is still a romp, albeit an overlong one where the rompers romp at the point of a bayonet. But Hitchcock’s maxim – “Good villains make good thrillers” – holds true. And since Ritchie burned through his best bad guy – the cunning, cutlery-faced Mark Strong – in his first Holmes film, it’ll have to do.
Review by Denverpost.com
While it may seem elementary, my dear reader, “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows” proves that when it comes to big-budget sequels, more is not necessarily better.
Two years after director Guy Ritchie introduced new audiences to an entertainingly Steampunk version of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s crimefighter, Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law return as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson.
In this tale of international intrigue set in the 1800s, the two continue their masculine minuet, although as the movie opens, there are fresh strains.
To the chagrin of his housekeeper, the forebearing Mrs. Hudson, Holmes is ingesting more stimulants than usual in his quest to make sense of pretty much everything. The far more sane Dr. Watson is on the eve of his wedding day. Kelly Reilly returns as Watson’s astute fiancée and wife.
Review by Windycitymediagroup.com
The homoerotic bantering between Robert Downey, Jr. (as master sleuth Sherlock Holmes) and Jude Law (as sidekick Dr. Watson) in director Guy Ritchie’s reinvigoration of the classic series in 2009 left me jonesing for a sequel.
It wasn’t just because I want Holmes to come out and confess his true feelings for his best buddy but because Ritchie’s attention-deficient camera tricks and sure feel for action have found their perfect avenue in the mystery adventures of the duo. If anything, the second outing, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, ratchets up all of these elements: There are more of those camera flourishes, more of those elaborate action set pieces and plenty more homoerotic double entendres between our two male leads.
Also, did I mention a fun new edition to the series: “Sherley’s” gay older brother?
That would be Mycroft (played by out actor Stephen Fry), a dead ringer for Oscar Wilde who dubs baby brother with this affectionate moniker. In Ritchie’s movie, he is never seen without his handsome assistant; has a rather disconcerting habit of strutting around his home in the nude; and holds some sort of important position within the British government (though it’s never quite clear what that is).
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