Guy Ritchie comes back to direct the sequel of his version of Sherlock Holmes and amps up the energy level to produce an exciting, intense and at times emotional account of Sherlock Holmes' struggle to continue his friendship with Doctor Watson while trying to catch his most elusive target, Professor Moriarty.
The story takes place just before the turn of the 20th century, when England is growing tense over their relations with Germany. Suspicions arise when bombings and murders start to occur. Newspapers link the violent events to the portentous ripples of war between Germany and England, but Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) has an entirely different theory that links all of the events to his equally intellectual arch-nemesis, Professor Moriarty. Meanwhile Doctor Watson (Jude Law) is getting married and Holmes tenaciously warns him of the hazards of committing to such a relationship, with futile results. He does however have a meeting with Moriarty and is informed that the Professor murdered Irene Adler (Rachel McAdams) because her love for Holmes was weakening her ability to accomplish his tasks and be in such a position of familiarity with him. He also warns Holmes that if he tries to sabotage anymore of his plans, Watson and his wife will become his next victims. Nonetheless, Holmes continues along the trail of crumbs and meets a palm reading gypsy named Simza (Noomi Rapace) whose brother is in the employment of Moriarty, wanting to know more about the contents of the letter he sent her. She gets away in the crossfires of a fight between Holmes and an assassin who was sent to kill her and Holmes doesn't get the chance to hear the story unfold. Later on, Watson and his wife Mary (Kelly Reilly) head off for their honeymoon and Holmes isn't too far behind. Disguised as a woman, he boards the train to protect the couple from Moriarty's henchmen and manages to get Mary off the train (in a humorous manner), getting her to stay in the company of his brother Mycroft (Stephen Fry). He and Watson then meet up with Simza to investigate further and learn the true intentions of Moriarty's schemes, as well as seeing if they can prevent anymore murders that could be costly for the future of their beloved England.
First of all I would like to say that this sequel is much closer in context to the short stories, particularly The Last Problem where Moriarty and Holmes have an epic standoff near a waterfall. It still is an independent story, but chooses to bring audiences closer to Arthur Conan Doyle's interpretation of him. I absolutely prefer the sequel to its predecessor because it is so much more rich in its storyline with the audience getting to see various locations that Holmes travels too, where in the first one you feel as if it was a lot more grounded in its setting. As a result, the audience gets to see a more profound side of Holmes as well as Watson, with Holmes putting on a lot more disguises and carrying out unimaginable escapes from situations that can only entail death. Watson is as loyal as can be, sticking by Holmes whenever a possibility of danger arises. The quality of a friendship is most certainly put to the test here, making it the most prominent theme in the film.
The sequel is definitely more dramatic in tone with Adler's character dying and as a result we get to see Holmes's agony towards the event and how he tries to hide his feelings when she was his one true love. It was sad to see her character go, because I missed her feisty nature and the fact that she outwitted the great Sherlock Holmes (twice). I suppose it was done to introduce new characters so as not to overcrowd the storyline with too many details and let Holmes have a certain target to aim for, without losing his way.
Much more than just fistfights are offered in this one, with massive explosions happening in slow motion, shrapnel and bullets flying past their ears and each of the main characters being on the borderline of death. It must have been an arduous ordeal to produce such captivating effects and it obviously paid off because I was entranced with the amazingly done CGI and the vigorous stunts the actors had to pull off to make the story come to life. The movie still preserves its dark cinematography which I really like because it maintains that aura of mystery wherever they may be and the ending was not only surprising, but humorous as well, making me eager to find out where their adventures will take them in the next movie.
Robert Downey Jr. is still the man when it comes to playing Sherlock. He is of course wonderful and really took on the challenge of not just playing Holmes, but having to achieve some rather difficult disguises while making them comical as well. His face expressions are what really sell his whimsical capers and tricks, and because he has such a great on-screen as well as off-screen charisma, he is always entertaining to watch. Jude Law really broke out of his shell for this role, where in the first one he sort of played second fiddle to Sherlock but in this one, he actually has a much more important role to play. Even though he is still considered more of an assistant and Sherlock being the mastermind, that is quite the contrary because without Watson, Holmes may not have survived the many deadly traps that their adversaries have set up for them. What I'm trying to say is, that Jude Law made the character of Watson more three-dimensional as opposed to the first film and I applaud his efforts. Noomi Rapace, who we know from her famous role as Lisbeth in the original film version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, was very convincing in her role as a gypsy, and is surprisingly good at speaking English despite us thinking otherwise. Her accent did not put me off for one second, and it seemed like part of her character in a way. Well done Noomi for making a seamless transition into English films!
In conclusion, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows is bigger and better than its predecessor with the same elements that we loved from the original, being brought to a story that is richer in texture, character development and of course action. I guarantee you, it's an exhilarating experience that you wish could continue much longer.
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