Sherlock Holmes: Juego de sombras

While we have new ingredients (= actors/characters) such as the girl formerly having a tattoo and a new bad guy, we also still have our beloved Holmes/Watson duo. And by that I mean the same actors in the role. Jude Law and especially Robert Downey Jr. having a lot of fun again and it shows.

Some other characters return and we have the "vision" mode in the movie again (at least that's what I call it and I'm sure you know what I mean if you've seen the first guy Ritchie Holmes). Making the Holmes movies is not easy. There is not only a rich written history but also quite a few movies. I have to admit that I wasn't thinking of either. Ritchie managed to create a world (especially with the first entry into his Holmes saga), that can be seen as standalone.

So if you liked the first one, you will like this one too. Even if you think you might be fed up by some of the neat tricks he's using or even if you expected Rachel McAdams to be back "big" in this movie too.

I, as a fan of Sherlock Holmes and of the portrayals given by Basil Rathbone and Jeremy Brett, personally loved the first Sherlock Holmes, it was fun, stylish and clever, with impeccably matched leads and a good villain, even with moments of annoying slow-motion, things getting convoluted and draggy in the second hour and Rachel McAdams.

Although the trailers suggested otherwise, I very much enjoyed this sequel. While there are a few improvements to the first film, it is overall not as good. My problems with the film come from the eventually annoying slow-motion in every fight sequence, it was fine at first but after a while it was overkill. I also felt there were too many characters some of whom don't have much time to develop, and instead are either come and go or blink and you'll miss. Lastly, the last forty-five minutes or so felt-like the first-rather sluggish in the pacing.

However, the film still looks wonderful, with the sets especially absolutely spectacular and a lot of effort is done into making the atmosphere evocative. The cinematography and lighting are also very good, with the lighting in particular giving some scenes a suitably haunting look. The music score is rousing, Guy Ritchie's direction is more efficient this time around, the first hour and a quarter or so goes at a cracking pace and more than makes up for the rather duller half and the dialogue especially with Holmes crackles.

Despite some of my criticisms, there were a couple of improvements. One was Noomi Rapace, whose appearance and style is much more suited to the period, McAdams as Irene gave it her all in the first but I sometimes found her hair and the way the character dressed jarring. Two is that apart from the draggy last act the story this time around is much more involving and contains much more going on to compel the viewer, the first was generally a great idea and was fun but got a little confusing by the end. Lastly, Jared Harris as Moriaty, Mark Strong was good but Moriaty as a whole is a more interesting villain, and I loved how cunning yet smooth Harris' performance was.

Not to mention Stephen Fry as Mycroft, a wonderful and very thoughtful performance in my view, and he even gets his own nude scene. In fact all the cast bring a lot of gusto to the roles even the sidelined(personally I found this a wise move) McAdams. I do wish though there was more of Eddie Marsan as Lestrade, his ineptness is such a great contrast to Holmes' more clever and inquisitive approach and I would have loved to have seen that come through more. Robert Downey Jnr once again is a very charismatic Holmes, and Jude Law as the more authoritative and composed character of Watson is also perfect. Again they are impeccably matched and work wonderfully together.

All in all, I found it very entertaining. Although there are a few things I preferred here, I did prefer the original, but this sequel compared to the film the trailers made it look is equally worthy. 7/10 Bethany Cox

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.

Doesn't matter how you look at it, this movie is darn good fun. I loved it from opening credits to the close. So what if the acting is a bit over the top, so what if there are probably too many explosions and bullets and bombs. The end result is a thoroughly entertaining 2 hours at the movies with popcorn and Pearl and Dean ads. Moriarty is sufficiently creepy and played with restraint, Holmes is completely over the top but for me if its Robert Downey Jr there are no complaints. The story keeps moving and the action is terrific. The story is loosely based on the last book of the Conan Doyle's first series of Holmes stories ending with the famous Reisenbach Falls in Switzerland. It also gives a great image of early 20th century on the brink of the first world war. If you want to enjoy a good story with great imagery and costume then you will enjoy this, if you are looking for Sherlock ( wonderfully called Shirley by Mycroft ) as Conan Doyle intended then you may be disappointed.

Sherlock Holmes A Game Of Shadows was a great sequel that had great slow motion scenes and awesome fight scenes.

Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson did a very good job of saving the world from an evil professor named James Moriarty. Stephen Fry who played "Mycroft Holmes" Sherlock's brother was funny character that talks very English and he was strange sometimes. I thought that Noomi Repace who played "Madam Simza heron" did great job playing that character. And Jared Harris who played "Professor James Moriarty" was just as smart as Sherlock Holmes. And I thought the last fight scene in this movie was interesting. Sherlock and Moriaty could think different attacks on each other, that scene was intense.

The train scene was awesome,Sherlock disguised as a girl was funny. Also, the running scene in the forest was great.

This movie was very thrilling!