Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011)

Wow! Such a good movie.

What makes it different from others?

Tied for the best movie I have ever seen

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

The first part was a brilliance and seeing to the end of it there were a lot of expectations from this movie. But unfortunately this seemed more like an extension of the 1st part with little add-ons for amusing the viewer. The fighting skill of Sherlock, his brilliance at finding evidence among others. The movie did well but seems to have failed the expanded expectations of the viewers. There were nevertheless, few moments like entry of Sherlock disguised as women inside the train, the throwing off the bridge of Mary. Also a change in the story was last encounter with Professor Moriarty he seemed to be more skilled at the art of boxing art than Sherlock. Over the comical part, Mycroft Holmes played an unusual character difficult to understand.

Movie night with Gertie.This is good fun, but not quite on a par with the first outing. Even my 9-year old daughter although entertained, said she preferred the original.

A series of bombings across Europe are threatening to start a war between France and Germany; Sherlock Holmes is convinced that the man behind it is Professor James Moriarty. The authorities don't agree though; Moriarty is a respected academic and counts Prime Ministers amongst his friends. Holmes is of course right but proving it will be difficult and Moriarty is aware that he is being investigated. He decides to make things personal, first killing Holme's friend Irene Adler then targeting the newly married Watson and his wife Mary. Holmes manages to save the latter two but their plans for a honeymoon must be put on hold as Holmes and Watson head to France. Here they find themselves working alongside Gypsy fortune-teller Madam Simza Heron as they race to uncover exactly what Moriarty is up to; all leading to the famous meeting at the Reichenbach Falls.After and enjoyable opening film this sequel manages to keep the enjoyment going. The story is fun and there is plenty of action from start to finish. Much of this action is fairly stylised; notably in a sequence where people are fleeing through woodland while under artillery fire where trees shatter in ultra-slow motion; I found this highly effective although I can see how some viewers won't be so impressed. There is also a particularly exciting fight on a train. As well as good action there are also plenty of laughs throughout the film. Most of the jokes are fairly obvious but some are more subtle; I loved the musical joke of having the theme from the film 'Two Mules for Sister Sara' play as Holmes rode a donkey behind his horse riding companions. The cast do a solid job; Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law continue to impress as Holmes and Watson and newcomers Noomi Rapace and Stephen Fry are fun as Madam Heron and Holmes brother Mycroft. Jared Harris makes a fine Moriarty; threatening without tipping over to be a pantomime villain. Overall I'd say this was a fun film and heartily recommend it to anybody who enjoyed the first film… however if you didn't like this first film I suspect you'd be equally disappointed with this as it is similar in style.

In 2009 Sherlock Holmes was re-imagined by Guy Ritchie as an ass- kicking and mentally unstable private investigator with a weakness for a variety of mind-altering substances. Played by Robert Downey Jr., Holmes was Iron Man without the vast fortune, super-suit and fashionable beard, but with the same genius-level intellect, capable of predicting the exact outcome of a fight with a foe before the first punch is thrown. Though heavily compromised by Ritchie's sledgehammer subtlety and love for annoying Cockney geezers, it was still an entertaining take on an extremely familiar character, with Downey Jr. at his twitchy best and demonstrating a convincing English accent.A Game of Shadows, the bloated sequel rushed into production after the international success of its predecessor, turns the doctor from idiosyncratic eccentric to a babbling pantomime. When we meet Holmes, he is rescuing his flame Irene Adler (Rachel McAdams) from a bomb intended for somebody else. The package was given to her by the scheming Professor Moriarty (Jared Harris), and after her next meeting with him, she disappears. On the eve of his wedding, Dr. Watson (Jude Law) arrives at Baker Street to find Holmes deep into investigating a splurge of seemingly unrelated murders and business acquisitions linked to Moriarty, and at Watson's bachelor party, the two encounter a gypsy woman named Simza (Noomi Rapace), the intended recipient of the letter that accompanied the bomb.Without any sign of the storytelling flair of the books, A Game of Shadows becomes little more than a series of punch-ups, shoot-outs and inane exchanges between Holmes and his trusted Watson. At one point, the heroes are fired at by an increasingly ridiculous arsenal of machine guns as trees shatter and fireballs explode around them in ultra slo-mo. Any resemblance to one of literatures most beloved characters is lost, and it feels instead like you're watching a movie about The Transporter's British granddad, albeit with a touch more style. Mad Men's Harris is impressive as Holmes's most challenging foe, but Rapace's character is so redundant that she is reduced to just a pretty face for the poster. Shockingly, the main problem is Downey Jr., whose hyperactive shtick is as tiresome as the plot he is caught up in.