The film opens roughly where the earlier film left off, with Dr Watson (Jude Law) paying a visit to his significant other in crime-solving, Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr), on the verge of his nuptial engagement with Mary (Kelly Reilly). The intrigue begins in earnest following Holmes` chance meeting with Irene Adler (Rachel McAdams), who is over her head in her dealings with the sinister Dr James Moriarty (Jared Harris). Chaos, anarchists, train wrecks and slow-mo ensue.
Stylistically, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows offers the usual slew of Guy Ritchie trademark action sequences: bullet time fisticuffs, quick cuts, a gritty sensibility, and some over-the-top explosions. The script, however, is more a blunder in the dark than a game of shadows, and serves only to impede the execution of what is essentially a well-crafted action movie.
Most disappointingly, however, the actors seem to be playing solitaire rather than chess in this latest foray, with performances that are solid in isolation, but lack a certain chemistry in interaction. Jared Harris makes for a convincingly sinister, heavy-lidded Professor Moriarty, but lacks tension in his interaction with his arch rival, while Noomie Rapace plays an utterly forgettable stereotype of the gypsy fortune-teller. The only exception to this would be the always-solid, slightly homoerotic bromance between Robert Downey and Jude Law as Holmes and Watson, but a dearth of onscreen interaction between the two means that audiences will have to sit through long bouts of lackluster moments between the less inspired members of the cast.
While by no means a bad film, this latest Holmes sequel is a flabbier, dumbed down version of the original, more elementary in wit and less lively in pace.
Sherlock Holmes: A game of Checkers.
Rating: 3/5 Raphael Lim
129 minutes