Downey Jr. is again bringing his insatiable charm to the age-old Sherlock Holmes character. As a self professed Sherlock Holmes expert (I read the books....once) I can quite confidently say that this film is nothing like the books. Except it very much is. This new adaptation of Holmes is unique enough in itself that it could have easily just been called "steam punk detective" but familiar enough that Holmes fans, Downey Jr. fans, and action movie fans should all be satisfied.
Sherlock Holmes (Downey Jr.) is onto the trail of Professor James Moriarty (Jared Harris). Moriarty, in the books, was Holmes' greatest adversary, able to outwit him and the criminal mastermind behind almost every major crime in Europe. In the movie, it's pretty much the same thing. Moriarty is effectively trying to bring about World War I a couple decades earlier for his own benefit. Due to Sherlock's meddling, Dr. Watson (Jude Law) is forced away from his honeymoon with his new wife to help Holmes stop Moriarty. They also pick up a gypsie (Noomi Rapace) whose brother is pivotal in Moriarty's plan.
The first Sherlock Holmes came out in 2009 and was pretty well-received. It had a few fantastical elements in it, but the quick style, clever camera work and a rousing performance by Downey Jr. made it a hit. Sherlock Holmes knew it was clever and that cleverness has carried itself into the new film. But they didn't add more intelligence to the film. What they added was so much balls-out action that the line between thriller and action is crossed.
There are a lot more weapons in Game of Shadows, a lot more shooting and even more scenes of Holmes using his keen powers of awareness to quickly beat the crap out of opponents. Besides fully-automatic machine guns (which I don't think they had quite perfected past the Gatling stage at that point) full-fledged artillery pieces make an appearance and they go boom. Oh, and the movie 300 stopped by and dropped off some slo-mo. Fortunately, it's only really utilized in one scene. It looks really impressive and it added a lot to the scene but then it just dragged on and got boring.
But I was never actually bored during the film. That may have been Guy Ritchie's goal. Keep the audience entertained. If a classic Holmes approach has to be sacrificed for the steampunk superhero that is Robert Downey Jr. so be it. If Holmes has to solve everything before the audience can even grasp what he is thinking, so be it too. We will love it all the same.
I blame Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law for putting Game of Shadows on the same level as the first Sherlock. Because it shouldn't be. They are very entertaining leads and I love watching their friendship on screen. It's hilarious, popcorn busting action at its finest.
It is almost an entirely different film but I would never be able to bring myself to call it a bad one. I would just as easily watch it again. Holmes fans will love the allusions to the books it draws from (they finally included Mycroft, thank god) and movie fans will love the artistic licenses the director has taken. But pray, that they do something a little different in the third film which will surely be made, or else this series might grow stale. We don't need another X-Men The Last Stand on our hands.
3 out of 4 stars
-Christopher O'Connell
P.S. Robert Downey Jr. riding a pony may be the funniest thing I will see all year.
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