Movie Review: Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

Guy Ritchie kind of got stuck in the genre he created -- the somewhat ironic British gangster movies, beginning with “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels,” followed by “Snatch,” “Revolver” and “RocknRolla” (and the notorious non-gangster bomb “Swept Away”). I can’t say I was a very big fan of these movies, and the concept wore thin rather quickly -- but then came “Sherlock Holmes,” a huge success released in 2009 and a very good movie.

The last two years have been good ones for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s old detective hero. Besides the Ritchie movie, there was a wonderful BBC TV series in which Holmes and Dr. Watson’s adventures took place in modern day London, and the cheap cash-in from mockbuster company The Asylum (which I haven’t seen ) is said to be the best flick from that studio -- it pitches Holmes against dinosaurs. Sounds cool to me.

… And now Guy Ritchie returns with a sequel to his hit, once again starring Robert Downey, Jr. as the title character and with Jude Law as Watson, and just like in the first movie, it’s a fast-paced, action-packed romp in which Sherlock Holmes behave or even look like he did in the countless earlier adaptations for TV and the big screen, least of all like Basil Rathbone’s famous interpretation from the 1930s and ‘40s. According to Holmes specialists, Downey’s version plays more like the character is described in the original stories -- but to be honest, I’ve never read any of Doyle’s books. I’m not very interested in Sherlock Holmes per se.

The main buzz about this new movie in my neck of the world has centered around Swedish actress Noomi Rapace, who plays the  female lead as Romani fortune teller Madam Simza -- articles and interviews have been very careful to point out that she’s “Romani,” since it’s politically incorrect to call her people “Gypsies” these days. Fortunately, they’re referred to as “Gypsies” in the movie, since that’s of course what people said back in 1891.

Arch enemy Professor Moriarty (Jared Harris) is back, and this time, he’s trying to … Well, I’m not really sure what the heck the guy is up to. He’s the evil mastermind behind a series of terrorist deeds in big European cities, he seems to have something to gain from pitching countries against each other to start a world war, Madam Sims brother has somehow been dragged into all this, but the rather convoluted plot is lost in the movie’s marvelous production design and flashy way of telling the story.

“Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows” is gorgeous to look at, this is a great, great looking film. It also has some very good scenes, several fun ideas and some of the comedy is hilarious. Robert Downey is probably my favorite actor; he might be the finest actor today, Jude Law is actually good, and not annoying as this over-actor usually is, while Stephen Fry puts in a fun turn as Holmes’ brother Mycroft. But unfortunately I must say I was a tad disappointed this time. Like so many movies nowadays, it’s a little too long and since I don’t care about the story, it feels even longer. There’s lots of nifty action set-pieces, but they tend to get a little repetitive -- and sometimes I had problems to register what what going on, thanks to the very rapid editing and creative camera angles. Maybe I’m getting old (I’m 87). On the other hand, a “Matrix” style chase through a forest is pretty amazing, with bullets and cannon balls flying past our running heroes.

And Noomi Rapace? She was a world wide sensation as Lisbeth Salander in the original Swedish “Millennium” movies (interestingly, this movies coincides with the premiere of David Fincher’s American remake featuring Rooney Mara as Salander), but Rapace is remarkably colorless as Sim. She’s a very good looking woman, but she hasn’t very much to do here; her character is no fun and she doesn’t have any cool lines of dialogue. She gives the impression of being a Designer Gypsy, sporting a trendy Ethnic wardrobe. She’s especially bland compared to Rachel McAdams (whom I’m secretly in love with), who returns as Irene Adler in the prologue, before she’s killed off after just a couple of scenes. A shame.

The first half of “A Game of Shadows” is better and more involved than the rest, and I like the fact that Ritchie depicts Victorian London like some kind of weird fantasy world, I loved the scenes at a rather bizarre club, complete with women hanging from trapezes over the tables, and waitresses in men’s clothing. Visually, the movie reminds me of a French graphic novel, while the storytelling is more American than French. Hans Zimmer provides yet another top notch score, and he’s even managed to throw in a few bits and pieces from Ennio Morricone’s score from “Two Mules for Sister Sarah” when our heroes need to travel on horseback.

I wouldn’t mind seeing a third movie in this series, but I’d appreciate if they can keep both the story and my interest on track next time.

Oh, and I liked the scene in which they eat hedgehog goulash.

Images copyright © Twentieth Century Fox Sweden

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