SHERLOCK HOLMES - GAME OF SHADOWS: MOVIE REVIEW

The sequel to the first Sherlock Holmes movie last 2009 is close to the 'Game of Shadows' as its subtitle says. Somehow you would have to have twisted awesome intellect of Holmes to catch up and make sense of some of the details of the movie, but Guy Ritchie - the Director seems to have directed it well for the audience to understand the convoluted plot and the mind of the great Sherlock Holmes.

I couldn't help but notice, but if you think of it, the movie is about Robert Downey Jr., playing the legendary detective with his trusty partner Dr. Watson (Jude Law). It was all him. :) He played Holmes like a walk in the park Although the the movie did had lots of tricks and styles in them with all the works and layers in them, I find myself short changed of the whole mind games of Sherlock and the movie.

The tandem of Downey and Law is just perfect in this classic Holmes and Watson scenarios. The wise-cracks and cliff-hanging feel of the whole movie is remarkably fit in each scenes. The back and forth chemistry of the two is one of the highlights and the strengths of the movie. The villain Professor Mariarty played by Jarred Harris was also a little wasted and underplayed, still was a good arch-nemesis for Holmes. The gypsy Simza played by Noomi Rapace from the original Girl with the Dragon Tatoo was also slightly wasted. If would have been fun if a female co-star played a bit more with Holmes and Watson.

The movie did had some jokes here and there, occasional punchlines kept the movie light and in a controlled pace. At one point, Holmes throw Dr. Watson's wife off the train, although like what Holmes said that it was timed perfectly, I couldn't imagine what You would feel if you were Dr. Watson. Guy Ritchie's use of some slow motion, clever editing, and some flash-forwards did help a lot in making the movie interesting. It also didn't get in the way of the script. It was witty, clever, fast and slow at the same time.

I personally like the style Guy Ritchie put in the whole movie, although it did lacked substance for me. I would understand why other people I know wouldn't be that interested in watching the 2nd installment, because the same thing with the first movie, it suffered the unclear plot until towards the middle/end of the movie, the unclear villain's plans, and wasted female casts / sidekick.