Movie: Sherlock Holmes - A Game of Shadows

If you liked director, Guy Ritchie's first outing with Robert Downey Junior and and Jude Law as Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson respectively then Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows is a must see.

As per usual this is not a complete review of the film. If that's what you're looking for then head on over to the Internet Movie Database where you'll no doubt find many user reviews. This is just a few of my thoughts post seeing the movie.

Warning there could be spoilers to follow - stop reading now if you intend to see this film and don't want to go in with too much prior knowledge.

I've seen a few reviews of this movie saying it's not as good as the first and I can understand why. The first film was a whole fresh take on Sherlock Holmes that main stream audiences were not familiar with.

Guy Ritchie, according to him, brought Sherlock Holmes back to the super genius, action hero that he read about in the original books. It was a far cry from the stuffy English detective we've come to know through many other films - and it was exciting!

However in Game of Shadows we're now familiar with this Sherlock Holmes and his world so it tends to be 'more of the same' rather than a feature in the second film. Guy Ritchie is obviously aware of this and knew that this film needed to have a bigger story to help bring the extra wow factor. Going after Dr Moriarty, Sherlock's arch nemesis, in a plot to send the world into war is probably as about a big a story as you can get for the late nineteenth century.

Unfortunately it's revealed early on that Holmes has been following Moriarty's activities for quite some time and there in lies the main problem I had with this film. You don't get the same sense that Holmes is ahead of everyone in this film as you did in the first. You also don't really get the same sense of trying to solve a mystery either.

In this film it's more a race against time rather than trying to solve a mystery. Even though Holmes is joining the dots on Moriarty's plan as he goes. If you look at the film as an exhilarating ride then it's fabulous fun.

If you were hoping to match wits with Holmes, attempting to spot the clues and solve the crime before he does, then the first film allowed you to do that much better. There's not too much to solve in the second. It's a game of chess not a mystery. You're basically watching to see what each person's next move will be.

I can say I did enjoy the film but I hope, if they decide to make a third film, they take a leaf out of the humongous book that is The Pirates of the Caribbean movies. In that series, the makers realized they'd gone about as big as they could go with At World's End so for the next movie they scaled everything back and just told a good Captain Jack Sparrow, Pirate tale in On Stranger Tides.

A third Sherlock Holmes movie would be great if they scaled it back and just told a good story with a real mystery to solve. It can still have all the action - as the first film demonstrated - but it kind of needs that challenge of trying to solve the mystery before the greatest detective in the world does. Even though you probably won't because that just wouldn't be right.

A few other thoughts...

I love that Sherlock's older brother, Mycroft Holmes (played by Stephen Fry) calls Sherlock 'Shirley'. I don't know why but, in all the years I've known the character, I've never thought of that as a nickname - but it just works with Stephen's delivery and Downey Junior's interpretation of the character.

There's a scene where German troops are firing a cannon into the woods, as our heroes are making a hasty getaway, whilst being pursued by troops. It's amazing how accurate the cannon fire is considering the troops firing the cannon have no idea how far away to aim and that their target is moving. Spectacular scene though. Probably wouldn't be anywhere near as exciting if the cannon fire was falling far short.

Sherlock's experimentation's with camouflage clothing. Whilst effective for cinema audiences viewing a scene from a specific vantage point, that kind of camouflage is less effective once you start changing the vantage point. The second time you see Holmes utilize a camouflage suit I just didn't buy that he'd be able to pull that ruse off in the relatively well lit room he's in.

Overall I did like this film. It's a fun second outing for this version of Sherlock Holmes. It does, however, make me want to actually read the books, just to see if Holmes really is the action man Guy Ritchie says he is.

Comments

James Gunn's Social Media Monkeys Joke Was a Highlight of His Superman Movie For Me

B efore James Gunn's Superman Movie was released there was a whole rumor going around that the movie would feature monkeys on computers trolling Superman's social media, sparking much outrage. #supersh*t. I didn't know this was even a thing until just prior to writing this article. I did a search to see if anyone had posted a clip of the monkeys scene from the movie and got pages of discourse featuring videos and articles prior to the film. Most of it from Gunn detractors (let's say) seeing it as some kind of childish swipe at them... well not them specifically but, you know, those other people who have every right to hate on anything sight unseen. Anyway, I'm not going to give even one such example a link or air because it's kind of sad watching someone devote so much commentary to a throw away gag that is absolutely a nod to James Gunn's Superman trolls. The whole reason this post exists, is to say I loved the joke, because fourteen years ago, and I...

Movie Review: A Complete Unknown (2024) No Spoilers

Y ou would think the Bob Dylan story would be 'wind-swept and interesting,' to quote Billy Connelly, however, despite A Complete Unknown being quite an engaging film, it feels like it missed the years that really shaped him as a song writer/performer. The film starts in 1961, with a then unknown, 19-year-old Bob Dylan (Timothée Chalamet) arriving in New York City with his guitar. From there he forges relationships with musical icons on his meteoric rise, culminating in a groundbreaking performance that reverberates around the world. The problem being, according to this film, Dylan arrived in New York, for the most part, fully formed as a folk singer/song writer. In virtually no time he makes a very important connection that puts him on the trajectory of doing the work and becoming a name, before making his world changing performance. While there is some drama behind the scenes with his various relationships, none of it is particularly unique to any number of up and com...

Movie Review: Superman (2025) No Spoilers

T he one thing I like about James Gunn as a comic book movie director is that he leans into the comic book nature of the world and the characters. He's not trying to do a realistic take on any of the characters. He's simply bringing the comics to life. It's still his take on the characters, but he doesn't shy away from their comic book origins. James Gunn's Superman is very much a comic book movie in every sense. Nothing is off the table because it's too 'comic-booky' and might look silly in a live action film. To me that's incredibly liberating. It lets James actually tell a proper Superman story that isn't hamstrung by reality, or tip toeing into the fantastical just enough to allow Superman to exist in the real world. Superman begins in the middle of a battle. Metropolis is under attack by a super powered being known as 'Hammer of Boravia', however everything is not as it seems, and Superman (David Corenswet) must work with other s...

I'm Joining the Illuminati Brotherhood By Personal Invitation of Hiltom Rothschild... Wait, What?

How special am I to have finally come of age (53 years young) and am now eligible to participate in building the world alongside other members of the Illuminati Brotherhood... Yes I've received the call by way of an email, which I'm sure is real because I had to translate it from the Dutch language and it was personally written by Hiltom Rothschild, one of the non-existent members of the Rothschild family (or perhaps deep undercover because Google has never heard of them?). A Transcript of the email below: To: etourist From: Illuminati Brotherhood Subject: Illuminati Broederschap (Illuminati Brotherhood) I am Hiltom Rothschild, a member of the Rothschild family, one of the 13 families of the Illuminati brotherhood. I'm here to let you know that you've come of age and are eligible to participate in building the 🌎 world. It is a calling and a privilege to honor him with pride and gratitude as not everyone will ever be chosen by the LIGHT, many are called but few are ch...

Revisiting Hobart, Tasmania (2025) - Part 2 of 2

Tasman Bridge as seen from The Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens. C ontinuing on with my partner (Enigma) and I's return to Hobart, Tasmania, it's day three, and a Monday. Enigma was hoping to see snow on top of Mount Wellington this trip however, so far we'd had nothing but fine weather. A little on the cool side maybe, but not enough to put snow on the mountain. Which you can check with Summit Cam's live feed from the mountain top. So we decided to fill our day with Hobart's other bus tour... Red Decker Hop On/Hop Off Bus Tour The Red Decker Bus. The Red Decker bus tour is a 90 minute loop tour of the main sights within Hobart. While you can just stay on the bus the whole loop the idea is to get off the bus at any key location you may like to further explore and then rejoin the tour when the next available bus comes along to your nearest timed stop. Tickets last for 24 or 48 hours, giving you plenty of time to explore without being rushed. The bus website tells ...

How to Transfer Any Line Art to Your Griptape - Easy Skateboard Griptape Art Tutorial

Dog Star Griptape Art by TET Griptape art is once again gaining popularity amongst modern skateboarders. For those of us who have tried to create our own griptape art, using paint pens, you'll know reproducing your design onto the grip, without making any mistakes is incredibly challenging. Mostly because you just have to go for it and draw the design freehand, with paint pens, directly onto the griptape. You can make the odd mistake here or there but if you get the proportions of the design completely wrong, it can be very difficult to fix. Often you just have to live with the mistake. To address the problem I've come up with an easy way anyone can transfer a line art design to their griptape, removing almost all the anxiety of getting the proportions wrong. In fact, you could do this with any line art design, even if you have no drawing skill at all. Watch the video below to see my technique in action and/or skip past the video where I highlight the basic steps to get your de...

Is AI Art 'Art'? The Say NO to AI Art Movement, and Why Human Artists Will Adapt

AI Art No T-Shirt by TET Also available on other items . Right now there is a big debate over not just whether AI art is 'art' but whether AI's are actually ripping off the work of actual human artists, without their consent, to create their images - particularly images 'in the style of' specific artists. From my own observations this debate started to get more traction when artist's signatures began appearing in the output of AI Art image generators. Is It Art? Cool Froyd the Cat Sketch by TET. My style is very much influenced by classic Disney and WB character styles. To get some clarity on how real human artists work (of which I am one)... we, that is all of us... take influences from the art that has come before. i.e. whatever artists we like, have studied, seen etc. we are influenced by. It shows up in our work, intentionally or not. If you really study my own cartoony art style you'll see I'm heavily influenced by early Disney and Warner Bros cart...

TET.Life (The Extraordinary Tourist Life)

Search This Blog