Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

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I loved this Film, it was really interesting




Registered User
I prefer the first part of Sherlock Holmes



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Both of them are really good. I would give the first 8.5/10 and Game of Shadows 7.5/10.



Good whiskey make jackrabbit slap de bear.
I think they're both about the same in terms of quality and entertainment.
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yeah great movie
Robert Downey Jr. is awesome as sherlock holmes, and the interaction with jude law is really entertaining to watch.
The first movie was a tiny bit too long for my taste, but Game of Shadows had it all.

+Jared Harris as Moriarty! the guy has "evil genius" written all over his face



Purveyor of Incredibility
I did like the first one a lot more. The second one kind of bored me honestly. I didn't like the nonsensical ending (I won't post spoilers). I also didn't like that they overplayed the replay fighting style throughout the movie. I understand why it was there and it was really interesting to get a look into Sherlock's mentality before a fight...but I got it after the first time. Okay, fine, the last time with Moriarty was good too.

That being said, I agree with Nuggett that Moriarty and Downey Jr. were both excellent. I think Noomi Rapace's character was unnecessary and a waste of her talents. For me, the overall feel of the first was missing in the second.



Purveyor of Incredibility
I adore the replay fighting sequences, and the slow motion sequences(especially the running through the forest sequence).
I like the way they look, and I think the slow motion forest sequence is an entirely different animal. That's more a stylistic decision to show the power of the cannon and the imminent danger our heroes are in.

I just don't think the slow motion fights serves any purpose at all aside from the first and last time. Even the one with Moriarty was dragged on a little long, but that's just nitpicking. Like I said, I think little things like this were all over the movie and subtracted more and more until I eventually just didn't enjoy the film anymore.



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I reviewed this in my review thread, but since nobody reads that, I'll reproduce my thoughts on the movie here:

If you were to sit down with a check list of Thursday's favourite things to see in a movie, you'd probably come up with something a lot like Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows. Costume drama? Check. Slick editing? Check. Cross-dressing? Check. Mild violence? Check. Humorous banter? Check. Ballroom scene on black and white tiled floor? Check. I could go on. All it's missing, really, is that it's not a musical. (Guy Ritchie, if you're looking for ideas for the third movie...)

This is not to suggest that it's the best film I've ever seen, but I've said before that the Sherlock Holmes movies are *my* comic book movies. I care about them the way other people care about Spiderman or Batman or other things ending in man. I love the original books, I like Sherlock Holmes in just about every incarnation I've seen and I thoroughly enjoy the way Ritchie has reinvented them as action thriller movies while retaining the core of the Sherlock Holmes we know. They're not serious, intelligent films, but nor are they completely dumb brute strength wins out movies either. Sherlock Holmes wins because he outwits his enemies with brains. How great is that?

Game of Shadows suffers slightly from the inevitable sequel disease of having to be bigger than the original and at times it overreaches itself a bit. More guns, more slo-mo, more everything (less Irene though). Here, instead of the great detective solving crimes in foggy old London, Holmes and Watson dash madly around Europe attempting to foil bombings and avert a war. It's less Sherlock Holmes and more a gay steampunk James Bond. Not that that is really a bad thing, but there is a decided lack of detecting which is a shame. We know whodunnit from the start, the only question is what he's going to do next.

I'm attempting to make this a coherent review in actual sentences rather than just a series of exclamations (Stephen Fry! The Reichenbach Falls! Torture! Moriarty!). Suffice it to say that everyone in it is brilliant. Stephen Fry's moments are some of the film's funniest, for which he is forgiven for being, on occasion, a little over the top. Jared Harris is a good counterpart for Downey's manic Holmes as the Napoleon of Crime, Professor Moriarty. Noomi Rapace isn't given a lot to do, and her story isn't really wrapped up in a satisfactory way, but the focus remains where it should be, on Holmes and Watson.

Both Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law are brilliantly entertaining (and believe me, I never thought I'd be so enthusiastic about any performance of Law's, but he seems to have found his niche in these movies). They have great chemistry together and the rapid-fire bickering with a side order of being willing to die for each other is back in full force. The obstacle of Watson having got married to Mary Morstan and retired from his crime-fighting life is gotten over pretty quickly in a hilarious train sequence, as she is pushed to safety by Holmes, leaving Watson free to pursue one last adventure before settling down into married life. At its heart, the film is really a love story, with Holmes going to extreme lengths to protect Watson, the person he cares about most, from Moriarty's deadly plans; despite his unhappiness over his best friend's plans to leave him and get married. There's a bittersweet note to Downey's performance, beneath all the humour and shooting, and a couple of really touching and poignant moments.

It looks gorgeous, it's very funny and very entertaining. I can't say it was a masterpiece, but there were times I laughed out loud in the cinema just from the sheer joy of it and I think that's something to be valued in a film, certainly.



Purveyor of Incredibility
I reviewed this in my review thread, but since nobody reads that, I'll reproduce my thoughts on the movie here:
That's actually a very well written review, especially considering the fact that you're such a big fan of the original Doyle character. Oddly, I would think you'd dislike the movie for all the reasons I did rather than embrace it, but to each their own. Here's my review on the same film:


★★★ (out of 5)

Missing all the intrigue and light hearted fun of its predecessor, Game of Shadows is quite a mess. While fun at times with plenty of jokes and little things to like here and there, it never seems a cohesive whole. More importantly, it never seems like a Sherlock Holmes movie.

From the start (actually, before the start) we know who our nemesis is: Professor James Moriarty. A fiendish name accompanied by a wonderfully devilish performance by Jared Harris. That's no problem. What is the problem is that his duel with Holmes seems geared more towards action scenes than a well paced mystery. Holmes fights in slow mo, dodges cannon shells in a forest, is skewered by a large industrial fish hook, and survives a flurry of machine gun fire in a train. This movie is a victim of sequelitis: it knows it has to be bigger and badder, but doesn't know how to do it while keeping the core content the same.

That's not to say the movie is without any merit. There are a number of bright spots aside from Moriarty. Jude Law as Holmes' beloved Dr. Watson finally seems to have found a role that audiences actually embrace him in. The overall look of the film, with its surreal grey and dingy London, is still fantastic even if it is virtually the same as the first. The individual sequences are well filmed. The mad dash through the forest in a burst of canon fire lends itself quite well to slow motion. If the effect were used more sparingly, perhaps it would be even more powerful.

The biggest strength in the movie is the relationship between Holmes and Watson. Holmes' love for Watson is very apparent as he constantly puts himself in harms way to save his best friend from Moriarty's oddly personal attacks. The banter between the two isn't as witty as in the first film. It often feels forced and rushed, like both actors are just spitting out their lines because they're just as tired of it as we are.

In the end, I don't regret watching Game of Shadows. It was a mildly entertaining romp that may have been better served a summer flick. There have been plenty worse reproductions of Holmes, though many better as well.



The first one was better than this.
Jared Harris was good as Moriarty, but I found his character more like every other comicbook villian & lacking a sort of mystery about him.

I think that new BBC Sherlock Holmes TV show is better than this, atleast the characters are much more than just wisecracks.



I adore the replay fighting sequences, and the slow motion sequences(especially the running through the forest sequence).
Same here.

While the first one was indeed better, I really liked Rapace's role in this one. I found the whole film very entertaining, even though the ending was a little silly.

I'd give it a
.



I thought the second film delivered. You have to suspend your disbelief and just enjoy it, but it was a lot of fun. It was good to see Stephen Fry as Mycroft and Guy Ritchie has done surprisingly well with these, "period pieces". It will be interesting to see if he ends up directing Treasure Island.
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I am going to be watching this tonight it has a good score on IMDb, really enjoyed the first one. For me Robert Downey Jr is one of the most entertaining actors out there. Just read about Iron Man 3 being filmed.

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It seems that the movie is somehow dark. Maybe they are saving money with the set and hiding things with a bad lighting. Extremely good movie though.
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I loved the first one, got Game of Shadows on my LoveFilm list. Can't wait for Robert Downey Jr in Iron Man 3!