Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011)

Whatever happened to the good mystery? There’s something strangely warm about a good, old-fashioned mystery story. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous detective Sherlock Holmes was the star of probably the most famous series of mystery fiction. A couple years ago, pop film director Guy Ritchie took this classic character and setting and made a hyper-modern action movie out of it that doubled as a buddy comedy. That film was extremely popular, hence this sequel. To say the follow-up is mediocre implies that it is worse than the original. On the contrary, it expands on the original quite perfectly. I just wasn’t ever all that fond of it. Both films have a superbly meticulous attention to art design that is fun to see, but there is otherwise a surprising lack of anything very interesting going on.

Robert Downey, Jr. is a likable enough actor, but I did not find his portrayal of the famous detective all that infectious. I also found Jude Law as Watson very dry. Nothing has changed here, save the addition of former Girl with the Dragon Tattoo star Noomi Rapace to the cast. Once we get past the recognition of the actress, she gets stuck with a forgettable character that has nothing to do, like her predecessor Rachel McAdams. Another odd character change is Holmes’ sudden infatuation with disguises, many of cross the barrier of stupid. There is more Inspector Cleausou to the character in this film than Holmes, and that’s not a good thing. How far can a movie stray from its original source before it becomes something else entirely? The Sherlock Holmes stories were so enjoyable because they weren’t so complicated that the readers couldn’t guess who done it before the mystery was solved. In this film, there isn’t even a mystery. Holmes and the audience knows who did it right from the start. The villain must simply be stopped. Sherlock Holmes simply doesn’t work as an action movie, and even less as a comedy. When Holmes shows up in a dress at one point, for literally no good reason, we realize the famed genius has turned into mere comic relief for modern audiences. I found myself watching this movie and feeling underwhelmed and annoyed.

I didn’t feel that the story was nearly solid or interesting enough to warrant two hours of film. I didn’t like the vague and anticlimactic ending. I didn’t like the barrage of idiotic wise cracks. I didn’t like the infuriating use of slow-motion. To make a long story short, I did not like this movie, and that doesn’t matter in the slightest. There are some times when a viewer cannot simply take the word of a critic. While I sat disliking Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, I was surrounded by people who were enjoying it. There is not anything wrong with people liking this movie and I am not at all bothered by it. This is a very alert and colorful movie, after all, and maybe if someone enjoys it, they will look into the original stories or even better mystery movies. Especially if you’re a fan of the first movie, it very likely you will appreciate this one. I didn’t.

7/10