Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows amounts to 129 minutes of missing Steven
Moffat, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Martin Freeman. Where the BBC’s brilliant “Sherlock” series of telefilms
offers puzzling plots, delightful verbal interplay, and a sly (and often
ribald) sense of humor, Sherlock Holmes:
A Game of Shadows is mostly just loud. Where “Sherlock” gives us Moriarty as a comic, twisted
genius, Game of Shadows lazily offers
us Moriarty as just another Bond villain.
Where “Sherlock”’s unique visual style amuses and intrigues us, Game of Shadows only makes us wonder
exactly how much cocaine director Guy Ritchie blew through while shooting and
editing this film.
Here’s the story: it’s
about a year since the events of the first film, Sherlock
Holmes. Holmes and Watson
reunite to bring the nefarious Professor Moriarty to justice after the villain
tries to have Dr. & Mrs. Watson killed for no apparent reason. Lots of stuff blows up. Noomi Rapace appears because she was
hot after The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and The
Girl Who Played with Fire and it seems like a good career move. More stuff blows up, there are some
fistfights, and a bunch of people get shot, all in slow motion. The Bond villain reveals his Bond
villainesque plan, and his henchman reveals a disappointing lack of sterling
silver dental work. More
‘splosions and fights and shooting, and even more slo-mo. We reflect that Robert Downey, Jr.
doesn’t look remotely like an otter.
The film draws to an utterly unsurprising conclusion. The End. Next.
Hey, kudos to Guy
Ritchie for (a) achieving his unique and singular vision, and (b) finding a
studio to underwrite his coke habit.
But Sherlock Holmes: A Game of
Shadows just isn’t much fun.
It needs more wit. It needs
more style. Aww, the heck with it:
it needs Moffat, Cumberbatch, and Freeman. They own the franchise now.
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