A year after his foiling of Lord Henry Blackwood's plot to seize control of the United Kingdom through fear, Sherlock Holmes finds himself confronted with the one man brilliant enough to match wits with him and sadistic enough to best the famous detective - Professor Moriarty.
Brief tie-ins nod back to the first film, but A Game of Shadows is a stand alone film, which could bode well for the sequel, as it may limit comparisons to the original. Director Guy Ritchie shoots for a much grander, international story, achieving stunning visuals and impressive cinematography, but misses much of what made Sherlock Holmes work - the very quirky British, Londonesqe, feel to the first story.
The cerebral, calculating Holmes of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's work is pushed aside for Iron Man in tweed. It's not that Robert Downey, Jr could not achieve a better balance between the need for an action-oriented modern character and the mentally astute source material. It's that Ritchie and company don't ask him. They want him to dodge bullets and explosions and do some of that "deduction stuff" when he has the time.
Along with Downey, Jude Law reprises his role as the loyal partner, Dr. John Watson. Their obvious chemistry carries the story that works on a grand scale, but misses small details, a virtually unforgivable sin when dealing with the detective of 221B Baker Street. While the story arc is wrapped up neatly with a "Oh, that's why he did that" moment, nagging points still linger. It is as if they wanted to use explosions as a sleight of hand to cause the audience to never ask questions about plot holes. That seems to miss the point about Sherlock Holmes a bit.
As a bright note, Jared Harris' Moriarty is wickedly good. The way in which he gleefully sings opera as he tortures Holmes for information is pitch perfect for the amoral professor. He has the look of a bright, if stand-offish, professor, with something not quite right there. He is Holmes mirror image and they both play the game. They are the chess masters, merely using different colored pieces, except Holmes personally cares for his "pawns and bishops." In the end, that's where Holmes finds his redemption and Moriarty his downfall.
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows is a decently fun action film loosely connected with the literary masterpieces. Readers of Conan Doyle will find a dash or two there for nostalgia purposes - a note from Sherlock to Watson with familiar words, Moriarty's affinity for the "air-rifle" and his associate the sharpshooter Sebastian Moran - but those only seem present to justify referring to the film's eponymous character as Sherlock Holmes. Holiday audiences can enjoy a light-hearted romp through pre-World War I Europe with the detective and doctor, but they shouldn't get their hopes up that the game will be very complex.
As an aside, perhaps ironically, BBC's modern retelling of the classic tales, Sherlock, hems much closer to the original source material and characters, though set in present day London. The first three-episode season is available for instant viewing on Netflix, with the second season set to be broadcast this coming year on BBC.
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