Fans of the first film will enjoy director Guy Ritchie’s latest modern interpretation of our favorite drug-addicted detective in Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. If the jaunty, rippling muscles of Robert Downey Jr. as Sherlock Holmes aren’t your cup of tea, perhaps you will be enticed by his dip into drag, specifically a lacy bonnet and sleeveless dress, complete with spicy red lipstick topped with Barbie blue eye-shadow. But don’t fret, this one isn’t as different from the rest as we make it sound.
Holmes and the reluctant Dr. Watson (Law) join forces in the race to stop criminal mastermind Professor Moriarty (Harris) from igniting a world war. The psychopathically crafty Moriarty is a brilliant match for Holmes’ in wits. Still, it is the stag party for the groom-to-be, Watson, turned into a cat-and-mouse game complete with klepto gypsies and deaths by train, that brings us the action we crave.
But, be careful what you wish for. Prepare yourself for a heavily recycled exposure to Ritchie’s penchant for excruciatingly slow explosions of forests and buildings. He ensures that every man-to-man fight to the death is shown two times, first slow with explanatory narration, and second in “real” time.
When things quiet, Watson and Holmes are the only solid personalities in a hodgepodge of strangely annoying filler characters. Rachel McAdams makes a happily–brief reappearance as Irene Adler, only to be replaced by Noomi Rapace as Madam Heron. Rapace (the original girl with the dragon tattoo) brings her Swedish flavor along with her trademark tough-girl typecast to make up for her boring and barely developed character. Her superhuman cheekbones almost distract you from her horrifically dull lines—almost. Other characters, such as the bumbling, nudist brother of Holmes, Mycroft (Fry), could have been done away with all together.
This time around, Holmes and Watson take the nearly–uncomfortable closeness of their characters’ relationship and smother it with half-melted cotton candy. Their fast-paced, smart banter makes this bromance the sole redeeming feature of an otherwise soulless action mystery.
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2.5/5 Stars Directed by: Guy Ritchie Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Jared Harris, Noomi Rapace, Rachel McAdams, Stephen Fry, and Kelly Reilly Rated PG-13. 129 minutes
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