Sherlock Holmes : A Game of Shadows

I missed the first one in the theater, and loved it on DVD. I tried to get to this one in theater after seeing how good it looked as well, but failed again. In my opinion, the first one is more enjoyable. Game of Shadows is good, don't get me wrong, but it's the same movie with new characters. Not necessarily the same plot, but Guy Richie (Who I love) used the exact same blue print for this one that he did for number 1. I was hoping for something new. He was so visionary with the first one, and I expected some new tricks, techniques, and slight of hand from this one, but it was played out exactly the same. The only difference was it was released in 3D, so there were scenes to prostitute that technology. The scenes would have stood alone without that aspect, but other than that, it's a bunch of foreshadowing by Holmes to know what his moves will be against assailants, friends....everything really. The villain this time around is Moriarty played superbly by the "Great at be creepy, Evil, Odd" Jared Harris. He is Holmes arch Nemesis, and this story delivers a rather unusual form of trickery on Moriarty's part. That aspect I really liked. Basically it's another one of those, "figure out how to stop the bad guy from total world annihilation and not die" film. It's definitely a popcorn movie. It also did what the first film did with explanations. At the end the whole thing is recapped by Holmes in a narrative/speech about how he figured it all out. I know it is supposed to throw us, but to explain everything we just watched seems silly. Like I said Good not fantastic like it's predecessor, but worth a look.


NBM rates Sherlock Holmes : A Game of a Shadows - Awesome