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

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...

Jimmy Barnes, Working Class Man 40th Aniversary Tour - Barossa Valley, Peter Lehmann Wines

D espite being in the middle of Summer, and experiencing some record temperatures across the state, we got a perfect day for the South Aussie leg of Jimmy Barnes' Working Class Man 40th Aniversay Tour. Lightly overcast. Almost no chance of rain. The cloud cover taking all the edge out of the sun, which was still quite fierce during the brief moments when it did break through the clouds for a little while. Guest artists supporting the show included, Jon Rooney, Kate Ceberano, Ian Moss, and Ice House. Unfortunately, while my partner and I had every intention of being at the concert when the show actually started, so did quite a lot of people. We didn't quite anticipate the traffic getting into the venue, Peter Lehmann Wines, Barossa Valley, and we certainly didn't expect the 5-10 minute hike from the carpark to the concert area itself. Kate Ceberano By the time we found our seats, Kate Ceberano was already part way through her set. Prior to this concert, I certainly knew w...

TV Series Review: Wonder Man (2026) - Disney+ No Spoilers

F or those of you that aren't adverse to your superhero content being a little more character driven and a lot less big action set pieces then Marvel's TV series, under the 'Marvel Spotlight' banner, Wonder Man , is a real underrated gem. Wanna-be actor, Simon Williams (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) is a suspected superhero in hiding who believes, he was born to play the title role in a new superhero movie, Wonder Man. A chance meeting with fallen actor, Trevor Slattery (Ben Kingsley), formerly known as 'The Mandarin', at an audition, puts them both on a path to success but, everything isn't quite as it seems. While you will certainly relate very quickly to Trevor if you know his past from the movie Iron Man III , or, to a lesser extent, Shang-Chi , neither are essential viewing. You get all you need to know about Trevor as the series unfolds. That said, Ben Kingsley must have jumped at the chance to play Trevor a little less as the comic relief, and a little more ...

The Lego Man - He's got all that!

Who would have thought that owning one of the worlds largest, private Lego collections could take you so far. Tom Lucieer of Angaston, South Australia, not only has met the Queen (of England) but is a frequent guest of her majesty and family when they are in Australia. He's also met Prince Charles, Lady Diana and Camila Parker-Bowles. Not only that, he grew up with TV Vet, Dr Harry, and is a friend of the Irwin family (yes, that's Steve Irwin's family). Tom will happily tell you all this as part of the guided tour of his collection, which, aside from Lego, includes much railway memorabilia and colourful anecdotes about days gone by, his achievements and more. Frequently he will finish each particular monologue with the phrase, "Have you got that?", just to check that he hasn't confused you because, as he points out, his display and the stories behind it are a lot to take in at once. In the photo you can see Tom holding a special award, which I think is for bei...

Boom Crash Opera Born Classic But Not Again

Boom Crash Opera are an Australian Band that reached the peak of their popularity in the mid to late nineteen eighties. They are a band that I knew about at that time but was never really excited by until they released their ill fated double album Born and Born Again in 1995 (Album cover pictured). At the time of its release I was very much into emerging Australian musical acts and was also looking out for new sounds that were different and had kind of a futuristic/electronic sound. Artists that I was buying at the time included; Swoop , Nine Inch Nails and Pop Will Eat Its Self . As well as a really interesting release by David Bowie, the concept album, Outside . Born was a fairly radical departure for Boom Crash Opera (BCO). The first single, Gimme , was often compared to the sounds of Gary Glitter, particularly his single, Rock n Roll part 2 , because of the pounding drum loops. Watch the video below. My favorite single from the album is dissemble which probably went now...

New TET Painting: Cat Amongst the Pigeons - Prints Available

Cat Amongst the Pigeons by TET 2026-02-22 Original Acrylic Painting on Canvas (15.5" x 12"). I n my previous post, Painting Whimsical Cats (and probably other stuff) Again After Almost a Decade Away From Traditional Art , I, obviously, mentioned I'm painting cats again. It wasn't an empty promise. As you can see I've created my first official, new cat painting - since the previous one was actually a test piece - titled Cat Amongst the Pigeons . This painting features two firsts; the first time I've painted a cat with pigeons, and the first time I've broken the edge of my white border with the image. (In case I'm not explaining that well, the cat's ears extend into the white border that is usually masked off with tape during painting). I just didn't want to clip the cat's ears! WIP Collage of Cat Amongst the Pigeons painting. Images from sketch to finished art. What Does It Mean? While this can mean anything you want it to mean, I was think...

Whyalla Foreshore Steam Train Found!

Road Trip Day 12: 3rd June 2007 Whist visiting the Mt Laura Homestead Museum, Rose and I spotted this Steam Locomotive - the only one in the museum - and thought just maybe it was the one I remember playing on at the foreshore as a child. On closer inspection of the information board we were amazed to learn that it is in fact the very same steam engine! I was even more surprised to learn that this locomotive is more than 100 years old (I bet it didn't get a certificate from the Queen). Bought new by BHP in 1891 it was used to cart ore along the tramway between Iron Knob and Whyalla. It has a fairly busy history but the key dates for me are that it was placed on the Whyalla foreshore in 1962 where it remained until 1983 when it was moved to the museum. Back then it was all painted black rather than green as you see in the photo. In fact it was the green paint that made me think it couldn't be the same train at first. Not being able to find any trace of where this train stood on...

TET.Life (The Extraordinary Tourist Life)

Search This Blog