★★★★☆
To celebrate the development of Sherlock Holmes 3 I am reviewing the two Sherlock Holmes,ending with Sherlock Holmes:A game of shadows starring Robert Downey Jr,Jude Law,Jared Harris,Noomi Rapace, Rachel McAdams,Kelly Reilly,Eddie Marsan,Stephen Fry,Geraldine James,Paul Anderson,Fatima Adoum, Affif Ben Barda,Written by Michele Mulroney and Kieran Mulroney,Score composed and conducted by Hans Zimmer,Directed by Guy Ritchie,Based on Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
The film begins with Watson typewriting. I like this idea because we see that Watson didn't leave Holmes to rot in his apartment and the partnership did last for a while. As we see Irene Alder has returned. McAdams I have to be honest is a little bit more girly girl than rough and tumble. Throughout the film the disguises of Holmes get weirder and weirder but funnier and more eccentric. We see in the end Moriarty. Moriarty portrayed by Jared Harris has made a sublimely evil and delicious performance with an extreme amount of evil put in. Even though Mark Strong is known for his evil performances Harrise's is an improvement on his performance. We see him kill Alder. I see this as a risk because Irene was a big character in the first and killing her off is a big thing because McAdams is such a big star then and now. As we see the tone and style has changed since 2009 a unique style brought to the table. Now these people were considered Moriarty: Brad Pitt,Gary Oldman,Jaiver Bardem,Daniel Day Lewis and Sean Penn. Now I can not understand why Brad Pitt was even considered. He wouldn't have suited this slick style and his acting would of been laughable. Oldman would have been equally great and the others:Some I would reconsider. We contunie as we see Jude Law return as Watson. His performance is more jolly than folly and he is more happy than he was in the predecessor. Complaining and so. We see that Holmes's tendency of his Nanny has got worse for the better. Holmes has a theory that Moriarty is the cause of all these explosions and he is on it.
Now we go and meet Stephen Fry as Mycroft. His performance is his usual posh and so. I do enjoy his performance in the Diogenes club as he does add to the vulgar feel with Law. Watson is a drunk idiot which is a change of character betting on cards and laughing like a fool. We see Noomi Rapace's performance as Sim. Her performance is a positive,a high as she fits into the role with out overacting but still being a likeable character. The fight between one of Moriarty's agents is enjoyable as Rapace joins the bumbling 'couple' on their journey. They return as Watson has his honeymoon. The awkwardness and the romance mix together perfectly as Watson bruised and battered with his blackened eye is standing up. Moriarty strikes at just the right moment. Downey's performance is an enjoyable performance,improving from the predecessor. As Holmes visits Moriarty,Jared Harris's performance is getting better holding the dialogue and the tension between the two rivals together. As Holmes discovers the dear death of Alder he becomes a broken man in a not such Nolan way. They stay away from Nolan territory which is incredibly hard to do in this plot premise. As the acting improves we see the swinging and the romance of the married couple. Law and Reilly act like a drunk married couple brilliantly capturing the feel that most actresses and actors can not capture in any sense such as Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz in Knight and Day. I have to say the British actors and Downey is better than most acting I have seen in the past few years. The train sequence is a rousing spectacle capturing elements of chase,action and most of all humour. The score composed and conducted by Hans Zimmer,the guy who composed the POTC theme with Klaus Badlet creates a majestic action theme using the tick of a clock. It creates a atmosphere adding more weight to the scenes. The humour gets larger and larger as we see Holmes dressed as a woman and creating an ingenious way of destruction using a sink.
Above[Moriarty portrayed by Jared Harris]
The firing and the shooting is a great premise much better than the modern guns and so we see today. It creates such a bigger force than the exploding cars and Fast and Furious like action. As we see the train explodes and we see a reasonably funny argument beginning with the line "Are you having as much fun as you would in Brighton?"We see them go to a little Gypsy village and then we get more weird and eccentric antics:Drunk dancing that looks like Tap dancing and body popping got strangled. It's funny,weird and refreshing. It feels like a Victorian gypsy Hangover. As we continue Moriarty has set a bomb in a hotel and what happens next is a great scene.Greatly timed,greatly written,greatly scored and one of the smart parts of the film...With so much emotion....
As we see an Afghan marksman and the murder of one man was involved. As we continue we see more of Holmes's vision like imagination. A great addition to the film. They discover that they killed a weapons manufacturer. More fun sequences are popping up making this a much more funnier but a much more wittier sequels than most. Enico Morroine's Two Mules for Sister Sara is played in the background adding a good witty feel,Holme's afraid of a living pony and Downey on a horse is a laughable sight. As we see the Marksman clash with Watson and Holmes getting tortured by Harris at the factory we see that Rapace's character is important to the plot. The use of the giant cannon is greatly used and the forest sequence following is one of the positive notes. Not overloaded with slow mo but thrilling and fast paced. Holmes is near death saved by his own creation a wedding present he gave to Watson. As they begin to talk to Mycroft about a peace meeting in Switzerland Holmes finds a plot point that is well used. We see them go in and I see a greatly done greatly choreographed chess match. As they contunie and that sometimes failure is needed for victory the end sequence showing how the two are similar the timing is great. Holmes falls to his death and it finishes. The emotion and everything put in the last scenes is amazing
I give this 5 stars because of it's great premise,action spectacle,use of characters,plots,nothing like your usual sequel flops,nothing like Nolan,a refreshing sequel and a great witty improvement from the first.