Sherlock Holmes 2
Banner: Warner Bros Pictures, Village Roadshow Pictures, Silver Pictures, Wigram Productions, Lin
Producer: Susan Downey, Dan Lin, Joel Silver, Lionel Wigram
Director: Guy Ritchie
Lead Cast: Robert Downey Jr, Jude Law, Noomi Rapace
Supporting Cast: Rachel McAdams, Jared Harris, Stephen Fry
Story: Michele Mulroney, Kieran Mulroney, Based on characters by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Cinematography: Philippe Rousselot
Editor: James Herbert
Music Director: Hans Zimmer
Costume Designer: Jenny Beavan
Art Direction: Netty Chapman, James Foster, Nick Gottschalk, Matthew Gray
Running time: 129 minutes
Reviewer: Swetha Ramakrishnan
Categories: Hollywood
Genres: Adventure, Thriller
Synopsis of the story
Sherlock Holmes has always been the smartest man in the room...until now. There is a new criminal mastermind at large-Professor Moriarty - and not only is he Holmes' intellectual equal, but his capacity for evil, coupled with a complete lack of conscience, may actually give him an advantage over the renowned detective. When the Crown Prince of Austria is found dead, the evidence, as construed by Inspector Lestrade, points to suicide. But Sherlock Holmes deduces that the prince has been the victim of murder-a murder that is only one piece of a larger and much more portentous puzzle, designed by Professor Moriarty. The cunning Moriarty is always one step ahead of Holmes as he spins a web of death and destruction.
Comment about Sherlock Holmes 2
My only knowledge of Holmes is Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century, where I discovered Moriaty as a great villain. The Game of Shadows is a great introduction to the face off between Holmes and Moriaty, which hopefully continues on to new installments. More explosions and astounding actions scenes are brought in to up the ante. However, it does have issues that keeps it from topping it's predecessor, which isn't to say that it under performs the first installment.
Sherlock Holmes gets involved in a bigger, darker case as he takes on his toughest nemesis, Moriaty, whom is trying to start one of the biggest wars. The case takes Holmes on a globe-trotting journey to discover the truth.Robert Downey Jr. continues his superb performance as the quirky Sherlock Holmes, even though a few of the disguises worn were a bit silly and obvious. I really enjoyed Watson in this one. He has a lot more to do in this one, unlike the first movie, where he's just some guy with cane who whines about Holmes all day. I also loved Watson's face off with Moriaty's right hand man, Sebastian Moran. Finally, we get a bad ass, right hand man for a main villain. Moran seems just as good as Holmes but relies more on basic factors to get the job done. This guy puts me in an anxious mood to see the next one. Jared Harris, whom played Moriaty, was the biggest surprise for me. When I saw the trailer for this movie and he popped up, I said to myself, oh no, it's the wheelchair guy from Resident Evil 2. I was really disappointed and felt that he was really miscast in this. He really delivered a wonderful performance and played well with Downey Jr.'s performance. Sadly, Rachel McAdams is not in this as much and Noomi Rapace takes over as the female lead. Rapace isn't as good as Mcadams, which I wonder is because of the acting or just the character development. She really served no purpose but eye candy, which I had no problem looking at.
Sherlock Holmes Game of Shadows has just as much of a confusing plot as the first movie. They both come together around the last acts and like the first one it requires a second viewing to fully understand what is going on. I don't know whether it was Guy Ritchie's direction or Downey Jr.'s performance but Holmes seemed a bit goofy rather than quirky in most scenes, disregarding the silly disguises. Fortunately, as the movie went on, the silliness went away. If I were to compare this film with the first, the end result would be on a equal level. The big action scenes and cool visuals is the only real difference, as far as quality goes, not plot. It depends on what your mindset is when going into this. If you had high expectations that exceeds the first movie, then your going to be disappointed. If your like me and wasn't expecting much and became surprised by cool scenes and great face offs, then you'll enjoy this, which I did. All the same, go see this movie.
