Weekly movie reviews (Sherlock Holmes- A Game of Shadows)

Movie info:

Sherlock Holmes is investigating terrorist attacks in London alone since his old partner Dr. John Watson will get married a few days later with Mary. His investigations point to Professor James Moriarty as the person responsible for the explosions. When Dr. Watson and Mary are attacked in the train while traveling for their honeymoon in Brighton, Holmes delivers Mary to the protection of his brother Mycroft. Soon Holmes and Dr. Watson disclose that Professor Moriarty has bought arms and ammunition factories and is trying to start a war in Europe killing political leaders and politicians. Now Sherlock and Watson have to stop Moriarty and his dangerous associate, the skilled former Colonel Sebastian Moran to avoid the imminent war.

Movie reviews:

Robert Downey Jr. chews scenery and spits it back out, but his shtick grows tiresome right around the scene where he dresses himself in woman’s clothing. Noomi Rapace is pretty good, but she's sorely underused, and her character has virtually no finale whatsoever. Stephen Fry, playing Sherlock's brother Mycroft Holmes, is also underused, popping up in only a handful of scenes, and stealing them away from Downey Jr., I might add. And you feel genuinely bad for Watson (Jude Law), who's forced to endure this “friend” as he nearly wrecks his wedding and ruins his honeymoon, all in pretty much one night.

The film is certainly enjoyable at times, and the banter between Sherlock and Watson can be amusing. The action boasts a few creative sparks, the finale is pretty engaging, and there's a charm to some of the characters and the atmosphere.

In this movie, I admire Sherlock because of his calm way in solving a mystery. He was an genius guy to me as he managed to solve every piece of clues in that movie which i don't realized. Everytime he was assaulted or caught by the enemy, he managed to escape form them. This was my favorite parts where he can predict their actions in a short time. It was a hard time for him in his investigation where the 'prey' knew most of his actions. At the climax, he almost killed but Dr. Watson managed to save him. He was lucky to have Dr Watson by his side.

Dr. Watson has a more proactive role this time. "A Game of Shadows" opens with him recalling these events on a typewriter that is too modern for 1895 but maybe suggests he's writing years later. He's not just a confidante and chronicler but a hero, too, involved in fights and shootouts. His wife must be thankful that Holmes abruptly eliminated her from most of the action

Moreover, the determination shown by Sherlock helped him to solve his investigation. Sherlock was determined to stop Professor Moriarty's action which can lead to world's conflict. He even consume drugs because he needed a lot of time to think and to solve the problems. Their struggle comes to a head in an elegant, high-stakes chess game, held for some reason in Switzerland in the dead of a winter night on a snowy outdoor balcony. As played by Jared Harris, Moriarty doesn't gnash or fulminate, but fences with Holmes in barbed language. This returns the story somewhat to the Conan Doyle tradition that Holmes did most of his best work in his mind.With the help of his pals, Dr Watson, they managed to stop Professor Moriarty where at the end of the story, he was killed by Sherlock.

It's Downey's movie. With his cool, flippant manner, his Holmes stands apart from the danger, thinking it through visually before performing it, remaining insouciant in the face of calamity. He appears in many disguises, one with a markedly bad wig, another as a remarkably convincing chair. Overall, I enjoy this movie as a high-caliber entertainment.