Skip to main content

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

Directed by: Guy Ritchie
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, and Noomi Rapace
Screenplay by: Michele Mulroney and Kieran Mulroney

    The ultimate detective duo is back, and this time, they're playing a dangerous game affecting all of Europe.
    It's 1891 and France and Germany are on the brink of war.  Bombs are going off periodically throughout the two countries.  So, it's up to Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson to figure out what's really going on, and prevent a mad professor from starting a disastrous war.
    As with the first Sherlock Holmes film in the current series (2009), clues are everywhere, even in places we wouldn't expect them to be.  This long and convoluted story, involves many characters (some not even essential to the story yet are main characters), and is not exactly told in a coherent fashion.  It's easy to get lost.  There is so much information about the case given in each scene, that sometimes the film may march on while we are still processing the facts so far.  Yet with such a convoluted story in which elements that make it make sense could easily get lost, not one mystery goes unsolved, not one clue goes unfound.  Everything is clearly explained, even if the film is too fast paced for us to realize it.  The advantage to this style of storytelling is that it is virtually impossible to predict what will happen next.  My only problem with it is that the suspect is way too obvious.
    Also as with the first film, many of the action sequences are presented in Holmes's mind first and carefully explained with intricate detail in slow motion, then presented again in real time.  It gives us an idea of Holmes's strange way of thinking about the case.  While the action sequences in the film are exciting because they are shot half in slow motion, half in real time, they aren't really necessary.  But I will admit, they're really cool.  And if you're wondering just how many there are, all I can say is that there are far fewer than in the first film.
     It's hard to say whether this film is better than the first one because they are quite similar.  They both include complex plots, but the difference between the two is A Game of Shadows is faster paced and contains a denser plot.  If you blink, you'll miss something and it will be more confusing from that point forward.  However, for those of you who want to know if you need to see the first movie before seeing A Game of Shadows, the answer is no.  The two stories have nothing to do with each other.  However, I would recommend seeing the first movie before seeing A Game of Shadows only because you will get a better perspective of each of the characters, especially Sherlock Holmes.
The best clue I can give you is my grade for the film; B+.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Magnificent Seven

Starring: Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke, Vincent D'Onofrio, Byung-hun Lee, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Martin Sensmeier, Haley Bennett, and Peter Sarsgaard Directed by: Antoine Fuqua Written by: Richard Wenk and Nic Pizzolatto      Remakes are funny things.  They can go either way.  On one hand, they can be like last year's Mad Max: Fury Road, a film that critics and audiences adore; a film that will live on as a cinematic masterpiece.  Remakes can also go in the direction of this year's rendition of Ben-Hur , one that critics and audiences will likely forget.       The Magnificent Seven some might say is an unnecessary remake.  It's a remake of an original that's based on another film, Akira Kurosawa's 1954 classic,  Seven Samurai, in which seven samurai soldiers are hired by a town to keep them safe from raiding bandits.  This time, there are no raiding bandits, and there are not seven sword-wielding soldi...

Don Jon

Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Scarlett Johansson, Julianne Moore, Glenne Headly, Brie Larson, and Tony Danza Directed and written by: Joseph Gordon-Levitt     To the gentlemen with significant others, clear your internet history BEFORE you see this movie with them.     Jon Martello (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) has an interesting life.  He cares about only a few things; his apartment, family, church, friends, girls, and porn, especially the porn.  He's nicknamed "Don" because he hooks up with the most attractive girls every weekend.  One night at the club, he meets Barbara (Scarlett Johansson).  She's different from all the other girls Jon hooks up with.  She wants more than just a happy ending one night, meaning Jon's going to have to change his game if he wants to get with her.  And as much as he likes her, he likes his porn even more.  She hates that he watches porn, so something's going to have to give.     Don Jon is ...

Flight

Starring: Denzel Washington, Don Cheadle, John Goodman, and Bruce Greenwood Directed by: Robert Zemeckis Screenplay by: John Gatins       For those of you who have any fear of flying, even the tiniest fear, you will never want to fly on an airplane again after seeing this film.       Captain Whip Whitaker (Denzel Washington) saves a commercial airplane from a truly horrific crash, in which only a few people are killed.  Almost everyone survives, including himself.  The stunt he pulls to save the plane is nothing short of a miracle, but an investigation into the crash reveals something that could send Whitaker to prison.  Not only is he going to be responsible for the people who were killed in the crash (which will send him to prison on manslaughter charges), but he was also found to be drinking the night before and the morning of the flight.       The actual plane crash takes place only twenty minutes or so...