By Jess Mellen
Photo Credit © Warner Bros
Those familiar with the stories and adventures of Sherlock Holmes know the man as clean, precise, and his own unique form of a gentleman. His companion, the proper Doctor John Watson, on the other hand, is a mustached, somewhat heavy war veteran who is constantly appalled and amazed by Holmes’ actions. These characteristics are out the window in A Game of Shadows, as the clean calm Holmes is replaced by a dirty, chaotic man that is barely held in place by his annoyed, exasperated, and quite thin doctor friend.
Characters that were once casual, at-home private detectives in the 1800s have been, as simply as it can be said, plucked from their respective stories and thrust into the fiery, explosion-filled Hollywood action movie that we see again and again year after year. Sometimes a move like this leads to entertainment disaster, but this is in no way the case with this movie.
A Game of Shadows is the sequel to the 2009 success Sherlock Holmes and features the same actors that graced the screen in the first; Robert Downey Jr. plays Holmes and Jude Law plays Watson. They are joined by several new additions this time around, with the British actor Stephen Fry featuring as Mycroft Holmes, Sherlock’s portly, government-involved older brother, and Jared Harris, who features as Professor James Moriarty, giving a face to the shadowed villain that appeared several times in the first movie.
Whether you’ve read the books and can catch the inaccuracies with the characters, settings, and situations or not, this movie is a great film with action, humor, and great acting. Although the scenes and settings may jump around a bit haphazardly, these transitions simply add to the effect of the overall film. What truly stands out in this movie, however, is not the tense struggle between Holmes and Moriarty, but is the chemistry between Holmes and Watson. Much of the dialogue between them is playful banter that can only be exchanged between two dear friends, and even the small, short scenes bring out unique emotions and feelings between the two men. Exchanges like that is a nice break between the tenser scenes of action and interactions with villains.
This is not the place to go into detail of the plot itself, as seeing the movie yourself is really the only way to get the full effect of the story. However, it can be said that the character development, acting, and emotional impact of the movie are all superb. A Game of Shadows is a movie worth seeing more than once because there are so many small props and details that are only shown for seconds, only to become important and unexpected twists in the end. Like Sherlock Holmes, you really need to try and observe everything, and it’s great fun to try to figure out the outcome of the mystery before the conclusion is made on screen. A Game of Shadows is a great movie, a powerful sequel, and is definitely recommended to be added to anyone’s watch list.
