If it was without the charm of its leads and the flashy, but empty style of Guy Ritchie, Sherlock Homes: A Game of Shadows would perhaps be one of the dullest blockbusters in recent memory. The first installment skidded by for the same reason, but here Ritchie & Co. have to do much more heavier lifting to make a weak script play better than it ever should.
The story of this sequel, equally to the first film, is thin. Somehow the filmmakers saw fit to stretch out the drama to over 2 hours, for a more bloated and meandering experience than the 2009 blockbuster starter. Throughout Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) and Dr. Watson’s failure after failure adventure to stop the brilliant Professor James Moriarty, played with a quiet and looming threat undertones by Jared Harris, there are scenes and subplots which could not be more useless.
If anyone can tell me why there’s a scene of Sherlock warning Watson about dancing, and then seeing Watson dance like an idiot, and how it fits into the plot it would be greatly appreciated. It can’t be labeled as pure comic relief, since there is already so many broad jokes and, to great surprise, seeing Dr. Watson dance doesn’t produce laughs. There’s an array of small, nagging moments that come out of nowhere. With the right script polish or more fine tuning in the editing room, the pacing and structure could easily be as tight as this film needs it to be.
As for whole redundant subplots, Ritchie has never been the best with female characters, and this sequel presents the most egregious example why. Noomi Rapace, an actress who proved herself as a talent to look out for with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy, could not look more lost as the gypsy Madam Simza Heron. For one, Simza is more of a plot device than an actual flesh and blood character. There is nothing to her. She is charmless and near-lifeless, which comes off even worse when up against Robert Downey Jr.’s overbearing charisma and Jude Law’s restrained charm.
The only cast member who can match their enthusiasm, and in a more subtle and clever way, is Stephen Fry as Sherlock’s brother, Mycroft. Sadly, he only pops in and out of the story when the script needs him to, making for a poorly calculated blockbuster storytelling. When something is about to get too serious, throw in a big joke or a little slow-motion brawl.
At least Ritchie has an eye for those brawls. The biggest set piece in the film, a literally explosive chase in the woods, is an exhilarating action beat. There are no emotional stakes involved, but on a visceral level it’s enigmatic. This scene alone makes the film not completely dismal. Overall, with the first installment and this sequel, it’s obvious a genius such as Holmes deserves far better scripts.
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows is now in wide release.