This is going to be a very quick review of Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows for those who haven’t seen it yet. A lot of my friends ask me “Is it good?” and I answer them with “Hmm… Yes.” Did you notice the short pause I did before I answered the question? There’s a reason for that…

STORY:

This second installment in the Sherlock Holmes story finds our heroes battling the brilliant Professor Moriarty who’s bent on starting a war among the European nations. There’s a lot of bomb explosions in the first part of the film. A character dies, a bachelor’s party happens and despite the odds, Dr. Watson manages to marry his fiance. Things get nasty when Moriarty decides to take things seriously and attack the newlyweds to spite Holmes. After this, there is nothing else to do but fight and figure out the enemy’s plans. This is where the looooong journey begins…

COMMENTS:

• Get ready to use your listening skills because once again, Robert Downey Jr., will talk in such high velocity that you will need to pay extra attention just to get the idea of what he’s saying.
• This movie is an action movie that doesn’t want to take itself too seriously. There are a lot of chases, explosions and fights here, but every now and then, humor is injected so as to keep things light. But yeah, expect a lot of EXPLOSIONS (world-war style).
• During the first few parts of the film, you will scratch your head and try to figure things out because the motivation of the villain makes no sense. There will also be times when you’ll think that the story is getting dragging. Thankfully, everything will be explained to you (literally) towards the end of the film and the adrenaline is pumped back up again. This explains why I had to pause a while ago before deciding if the film was good. It’ll take you some time as well. Trust me.
• Expect a lot of action sequences happening in slow-mo. There will be a lot of flashbacks as well.
• Robert Downey Jr. did an okay performance here. However, I can’t seem to distinguish his persona as Sherlock Holmes from that of Tony Stark in Ironman. He epitomizes the unlikely action star. Sometimes, his dialogue and actions tend to be annoying but when he tries to be funny, he does it spot on. A great example would be his hilarious disguises.
• Jude Law seemed kinda weak here, or maybe it’s because of the pushover character he plays (Dr. Watson). He just seems to go along with everything and doesn’t stand up much for himself story-wise or acting-wise. (BTW: He used to be my all-time Hollywood crush haha)
• My favorite performance is from Noomi Rapace who plays Madam Simza Heron- an ass-kicking gypsy fortune-teller in search of her rebel brother.

• My favorite scene is the one towards the very end where Holmes and Moriarty raise their mind games into breathtaking heights. Literally and figuratively. So as not to spoil this scene, I will just tell you to watch out for the chess game.
• Very nice ending. You would expect something like that to happen, but not in THAT way. Haha!

So, would I recommend it?

Sure, why not!

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