Possibly even a titch better than the first Ritchie 'Sherlock Holmes,' this next installment of the historic Holmes capers seems more confident, and though more fast-paced, action packed, and violent, also more easy to follow.
With his keen mind and a minimum of Victorian age gadgets, Holmes rivals James Bond in all but sexual activities. The fisticuff scenes (as Holmes might describe them) are shot in Ritchie-style speed and slow-motion so all the details of the violent encounters can be studied at freeze and viscerally felt at high speed. The frenetic editing, which usually masks fight scenes in lesser movies, only exposes the fighters in all the more detail here. The glorious landscapes of England, France, Germany and Switzerland rival those of any Bond film. Holmes' flashes of clue finding and problem solving are as exciting as any gun battle in Bond's adventures. And the turn-of-the-century warfare technology in Holmes' arsenal get the juices flowing even more than Bond's cold, futuristic, abstract weaponry. The stakes are as high in both -- Bond usually saves the planet from destruction, but Holmes attempts to stave off the end of Western Civilization, which is just about the same thing.
In '...A Game of Shadows,' the circle of Holmes' colleagues is enlarge to include his brother, Mycroft Holmes (Stephen Fry), and two, count them, two women: Watson's bride, Mary (Kelly Reilly), and gypsy fortuneteller, Simza (Noomi Rapace), who, alongside Holmes and Watson, hunts for her missing brother. Three more people add depth and dimension to the already complex and dangerous plot. And it's interesting to see Holmes more comfortable around women. I thought that Rachel McAdams might be a love interest, the woman in red of Doyle's books, but she is more a red herring. Perhaps in future installments, and I truly hope and assume there will be, more of Holmes' private passions will be revealed.
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
Director: Guy Ritchie
Writer: Michele Mulroney, Kiernan Mulroney from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes characters
Cast: Robert Downey, Jr., Jude Law, Jared Harris, Noomi Rapace, Rachel McAdams, Stephen Fry, Kelly Reilly, Geraldine James
Time: 129 min.
Rating: PG-12
Opening December 16 at the 4-Star, AMC Van Ness 14, Kabuki Sundance, Marina Theatre, San Francisco Centre in San Francisco
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