Reprising their roles as Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson, Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law quite obviously revel in the scope given to their characters - maybe a little too much.
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
Director: Guy Ritchie
Cast: Robert Downey Jr, Jude Law, Noomi Rapace, Jared Harris, Stephen Fry, Kelly Reilly, Rachel McAdams
Rating: (M)
3 stars (out of 5)
For this the second instalment in the Guy Ritchie-helmed Sherlock Holmes franchise, the plot has, at best, a tenuous association with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's writing.
Supposedly influenced by Doyle's short story A Final Problem, A Game of Shadows stands alone as an independent tale that owes much more to the slick style of a Mission: Impossible than any insights into the famous literary sleuth.
This time around, Holmes (Downey Jr) and his accomplice, Dr Watson (Jude Law), are on the trail of Professor Moriarty (Jared Harris), an academic genius with a scurrilous plan to derail peace in Western Europe. Fast-tracked into production to capitalise on the success of the first film, A Game of Shadows has the essence of an intriguing plot, but feels half-cooked.
Downey jun and Law are amusing for the most part, but ultimately fall flat with some pointless camp theatrics, bad accents (Downey Jr) and lots of tedious banter.
A Game of Shadows hums along with its Matrix-inspired cinematography and cleverly conceived CGI landscapes; but does Victorian England really need an amphetamine-addled detective with skills in mixed martial arts? It's just not cricket.
Best thing: The stunning slow motion sequences.
Worst thing: The nagging feeling the film was trying a little too hard.
See it with: A facial hair-grooming kit.
- Mark Orton
