Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows: Exclusive Movie Review

Guy Ritchie's take on the super sleuth is one to be amazed at. Sure, its not what purists were expecting (Go for your BBC UK's Sherlock please. That's a WHOLE LOT MORE AWESOME), but it still delivered. So a sequel was greenlit, but sadly, it does not give the awe inspiring awesomeness seen in the first.

Sherlock is back again investigating a case, that does not seem slightly related. As he escorts Dr. Watson to his wedding, he finally gets to confront Professor James Moriarty, arch nemesis and also as brilliant as Sherlock. But what Sherlock has not discovered yet, is he is about to play a very dangerous game, that Moriarty has already seemed to have won. Will he crack the case?

Its not surprising how the actor's were doing, especially Jared Harris this time. RDJ and Jude Law were their usual selves, but the big inclusion is obviously Moriarty. Now, some may love Jared's rendition, but I have a hunch that some may hate, due to lack of clarity in his stance and motives. But I personally would say that Jared nailed Moriarty as an amoral character who's aim are a lot more devious than one would expect.

The setpieces and scenes were okay, but closer to ho hum. Even the mental prediction fights were actually tamed (SPOILER: Except for the final one of course) and the action a little less milder. Sure, it felt that Guy Ritchie was doing things bigger. But I'd say that it lacks the flare that was present in the first.

Dialogue and score delivers. But there's just nothing to be vowed from. Its purely just simple popcorn entertainment that you have free time to spare.

Should you watch? If you like the first, sure. But don't come expecting to be wowed like before. If you haven't watch it, the good news is that you don't need the first to watch it. You already know who Sherlock is and how he is as told by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Kyo's Score: 7/10. MI 4 was more breath taking, even though I love Sherlock dearly.

2 comments:

Usemeplz said...

Thanks for review. I wanted to go to the cinema to watch it, but I missed chance. But now I don't care, I know that it is not better than first part, so I'll wait for good quality and watch it at home. It's just a pity that I've expected more from it...

Eightface said...

Unfortunately, I have to disagree. I thought that A Game Of Shadows was amazing. Stephen Fry was excellent as Sherlock's brother. It was extremely entertaining, and better than the first, one of the reasons being that the ending was much stronger. In the first one, RDJ played Sherlock Holmes the action hero, whereas in A Game Of Shadows, I found that he was much more intellectual. Jude Law was great in both movies, but another big difference was Moriarty. I thought that almost everything about the second one was better than the first. I do see what you mean with the fight scenes being toned down, though.