A little bit of escapism every now and then is not necessarily a bad thing. Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law appear in the second reworking of the Sherlock Holmes mythology, playing Holmes and Dr. Watson respectively. Purists beware! This is no faithful retelling of Conan Doyle’s classics, but a complete revision. Holmes here tosses aside his pipe and deerstalker hat to embrace a bohemian steam punk existence. While much is made of Holmes’ intellect, and it is easy somehow to believe Downey as a misunderstood genius, this is not an intellectual thriller built around a gripping mystery, but rather a wall-to-wall action fest filled with exotic locales and spectacular stunts. This is more James Bond of the 19th century than the Mentalist. Holmes does not sit back in his armchair to ponder over puzzling clues, but rather rips off his shirt and leaps fists first in the fray, displaying Jedi-like precognition and reflexes.
Since the first Sherlock Holmes revision did so well in 2009 it seems the purists will have to suffer these indignities a while longer, because the general public obviously likes director Guy Ritchie’s interpretation. The second edition introduces the only man able to rival Holmes’ legendary intellect in Professor Moriarty (Jared Harris). Moriarty may even be able to surpass Holmes because of his unrestrained conscience and capacity for evil. Moriarty plans to start a world war (this being 1891) so that he can cash in on selling arms, and the criminal mastermind always seems one step ahead of Holmes. Harris plays Moriarty with sinister deviousness, but sadly his intellectual clashes with Holmes, which account for two of the most entertaining scenes in the whole movie, are limited. The rest of the time Holmes is dashing across the globe trying to prevent Moriarty from changing the course of history. He is accompanied by his faithful friend Watson, for whom this new interpretation sees fit to introduce a heavy bromance element. This provides many amusing scenes, the best of which sees Holmes crash Watson’s honeymoon on a train while dressed in drag. It all makes perfect sense, but you have to see it first.
Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows does suffer from a paint-by-numbers plot and slightly stilted script, but since it does not pretend to be anything other than an entertaining romp, we can forgive it that. The ending is a class above the rest of the film to be honest, being both tense and immensely satisfying. Three (and a half) stars out of five.