A Gifted Detective, But Some Stale Clues

Based on the ending to Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes from two years ago, it was unmistakable that the legendary British detective had another set of clues to follow. In the film, the director not only included Holmes's talents as a spy, but as a skilled brawler too, engaging him in some bare-knuckle fight scenes. This is Guy Ritchie, afterall, one who's known for his experienced background in the action genre. He places Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's famed sleuth in another high-stakes mystery thriller where Holmes uses his fists as much as his smarts to outwit his latest adversary. It's an entertaining return in the beginning; but it doesn't keep itself as fresh or as energetic as the first.

Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey, Jr.) is investigating a series of bombings that have been occurring throughout Europe, and has an idea of who might be instigating them: the criminal mastermind, Professor Moriarty (Jared Harris). On top of this, Holmes's crime-solving partner, Dr. Watson (Jude Law), is about to get married, so Holmes is worried that he might be losing him. However, due to unforeseen malevolent circumstances, Watson is influenced to help his friend solve the case. The two obtain the help of a gypsy fortune-teller named Simza (Noomi Rapace), who is desperately searching for her brother who might be involved in Moriarty's deadly game. As the case unfolds, the group realizes that there's a lot more at risk than they had imagined.

Robert Downey, Jr. brings back his gleeful eccentricities that could be shown as well by a crazy scientist. His various disguises perfectly fit his unpredictability. He handles the different sides of his role well, bringing the comic-relief factor of his character to the lighter moments, and has graceful shifts to his serious temperament when there's danger in sight. A majority of the funnier scenes in the film come when Holmes is with his dear friend, Watson. The bromance that sparked between them in the first installment is slightly more amplified, and it's played to more laughs; but it thankfully doesn't take away from the bigger picture.

Some fresh faces include the addition of Sherlock's brother, Mycroft (Stephen Fry). The first time we see these two together, they don't miss a beat with engaging in humorous, brotherly quarreling. Noomi Rapace, who is best known for her lead role in the Swedish film adaptation of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo novel, takes her first dip into mainstream film. Her gypsy character is fierce with a knife, and gets as involved in the action as her male counterparts.

But the strongest new character is Professor Moriarty. What's unsettling about him is as normal as he might seem, he is deadly and heartless. He and Holmes think alike, and are two halves of one brain. One half is light, one half is dark. One half abides by the law, and the other half breaks it.

Guy Ritchie knows how to stage an action scene. The best one of the film is a chase that has the protagonists being pursued through a forest in Germany, with guns and cannons firing away at them from behind. However, Ritchie could have left out a lot of the slow-motion shots on this part. It arrived at the point where it almost drained away the excitement of this sequence, as well as in any other scene that used slow-motion.

The end confrontation between Holmes and Moriarty is more of a battle of brains than braun. Although it's missing some of the fun of watching Holmes face-off with his nemesis on the under-construction Tower Bridge at the conclusion of the first movie, it's still interesting to watch.

The screenplay by Kieran Mulroney, Michele Mulroney and Guy Ritchie takes the globe-trotting characters from England, to France, to Germany, and finally, to Switzerland. This places the narrative on a greater scale, conveying how much is at stake if the villain succeeds.

The story employs some of the tricks we saw in the first film, such as Sherlock's analysis of a fight, seconds before it happens. At this point, however, they come off as musty, and make us feel at times as though we're just watching the original again.

The plot doesn't wrap-up entirely, and it leaves the door ajar for a third movie. Wise choice, seeing as A Game of Shadows feels like part one of a two-part movie, waiting to reveal more surprises for the third installment. What the next entry needs is a better dose of the mystery-solving fun and some new tricks that made the first movie a treat to watch. Those are some clues that the filmmakers, and certainly Sherlock Holmes, could decipher.

Final grade: B-