I honestly don't have much to say on this second film that, even more than the first, forgoes the idea of Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) being a super sleuth, instead turning him into an action-heavy superhero. I miss the man of mystery, to be honest, but I also the like way the action is handled in these films, as a thinking-man's exercise rather than just pure punching and kicking.
In SHERLOCK HOLMES: GAME OF SHADOWS, Downey continues to play Holmes as an emotional cripple, who is mourning the loss of his dear friend and partner Dr. John Watson (Jude Law) to the greatest enemy of all: marriage. The loss is felt even deeper when Holmes' own potential love interest from the previous film, Irene Adler (Rachel McAdams), turns traitor to work for his sworn enemy Prof. James Moriarty (Jared Harris, who is actually quite good as the legendary nemesis). In an interesting but not entirely successful turn, the original GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO, Noomi Rapace, plays gypsy fortune teller Madam Simza Heron, who aids Holmes in his search for evidence of Moriarty's master plan.
Never to be left out of the game, Holmes manages to find imaginative ways to ruin Watson's honeymoon, while still keeping the band together to go after Moriarty. Even thought I just saw the film a few days ago, it's tough for me to remember any of the details of this story, probably because there aren't that many. This is a plot unveiled in broad strokes, which get more interesting the more detail is added. For example, the bonus inclusion of Stephen Fry as Holmes' contrarian brother Mycroft is nothing short of genius. Fry is clever, mischievous and just plain fun to have around, and it made me realize how much I've missed seeing him on any size screen.
And while in terms of marketing and demographics, having Rapace in the film is a neat, trendy idea, she doesn't actually add much to the proceedings, and is largely reducing to playing Exposition Girl, which is such a colossal waste of her talents as to border on insulting. But the most welcome introduction in SHERLOCK HOLMES: GAME OF SHADOWS is Jared Harris, who plays Prof. Moriarty as if he's an upstanding member of the scientific establishment, and anyone thinking of him in villainous terms must be insane. I've long admired Harris' dexterity as an actor, and he certainly has just the right amount of the devil in him for this role.
Still, much like the original Guy Ritchie-directed SHERLOCK HOLMES movie, GAME OF SHADOWS left me cold and empty. Holmes' many disguises were just silly, his powers of deduction rarely tapped into, and his stoned rants irritating. It's a bit sad when you walk out of a Sherlock Holmes story thinking Dr. Watson is the far more interesting character, if only because he seems far more well-adjusted. GAME OF SHADOWS has quite a few truly entertaining moments, but nothing about them really sticks with you, with one exception--there a fight sequence between Holmes and Moriarty that is old-school pre-visualized. I'll say nothing more, but it's an extremely interesting take on Holmes' ability to know exactly how a fight is going to play out (something that was established in the first film). If the rest of the film had been that intriguing, I might be able to recommend this latest chapter in the modern Holmes franchise to you.
