THE AISLE SEAT - by Mike McGranaghan
"SHERLOCK HOLMES: A GAME OF SHADOWS"
The plot of Sherlock Holmes 3 will find Robert Downey, Jr. searching for an explanation for the plot of Sherlock Holmes 2.
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows makes the mistake that many sequels make: it tries to give us more of everything we loved about the original, apparently not realizing that if we loved those things the first time, it was probably because they were in perfect proportion. Director Guy Ritchie amps up the mayhem and the stylistic devices used to signify that the world's most famous detective is deducing things, yet because the plot is crummy, the cumulative effect feels like overkill.
Robert Downey, Jr. returns as Holmes, and Jude Law is also back as Dr. Watson. As the movie opens, Holmes is investigating the renowned Professor Moriarty (Jared Harris), who he believes is tied to a number of suspicious political deaths. They key to uncovering what Moriarty is really up to is the missing-in-action brother of a gypsy named Simza (played by Noomi Rapace, star of the original Swedish Girl With the Dragon Tattoo). Moriarty is, of course, every bit as cunning as Holmes himself, and he repeatedly tosses up roadblocks to prevent the sleuth from making progress on the case.
The first Sherlock Holmes was a fun interpretation of the beloved character. He was presented as an action hero as well as a genius. The same is true here, although Holmes' periodic fisticuffs are hampered by the fact that his rivalry with Moriarty is not always presented with much clarity. This is one of those movies where things happen but aren't explained until five minutes later. The approach creates a scenario where you're constantly asking yourself, “What is going on here?” and by the time it's explained, the story has already moved onto something else you'll need to question. Characters appear without introduction, so you sometimes don't realize how important they are until it's too late to care. Such narrative sloppiness can erode an audience's interest. It certainly eroded mine. A movie about Holmes and Moriarty should be zingy and fast-paced and fun. It should offer two brilliant minds playing a riveting game of cat-and-mouse. Instead, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows is muddled and bloated, with a plot that requires a Holmes-ian sense of deduction to follow.
Much of the blame has to go to the lousy screenplay by Kieran and Michelle Mulroney, which is a masterpiece of incomprehensibility. I wonder what the actors thought when they read it. Did it make sense to them, or did anyone realize how shoddy its construction was? As a further example of the laziness of the plot, consider that when Moriarty's big plan is finally revealed, it's essentially the same plan that dozens of other movie villains have used over the years. There's even the cliched use of a chess game as a metaphor for personal rivalries. We've already seen this creaky gimmick once this year (in Tower Heist), and it's repeated faithfully here, right down to the moment when the victor, having won, declares, “Checkmate!”
Without a solid screenplay from which to work, Guy Ritchie's visual tricks ring hollow. You may recall that, in the first installment, Holmes visualized things in slow motion before committing to action. That process is repeated ad nauseum in the sequel, as is the speed-up/slow-down momentum of the action sequences. I thought this style worked in the original, as it provided a visual interpretation of Holmes' mental process. Now, it just comes off as an attempt to prop up a flat story.
On a technical level, the movie is fine. The production design is magnificent. The performances are uniformly sprightly. The photography and music are wonderful. In the end, though, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows is a lot like The Hangover Part II, Scream 4 or Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen: it looks and feels like the movie you initially fell in love with, yet it offers little of the pleasure or magic that won you over in the first place.
(
out of four)
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, and some drug material. The running time is 2 hours and 8 minutes.
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