Sherlock Holmes: Game in the Shadows

Even though Guy Ritchie's first reinterpretation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes had little in common with the classic original and turned the master detective into a first-class action hero, this version was extremely well received by moviegoers. The film grossed over 500 million dollars worldwide, which was certainly due to Robert Downey Jr.'s wonderful portrayal of the detective. A sequel was therefore quickly decided. Sherlock Holmes: Game in the Shadows is one of the rare cases in which the second part is clearly superior to the first in many respects.

In his new adventure Holmes gets to deal with a really serious opponent. All over the world, there are deaths, bombings and scandals that at first glance seem unrelated, but all destabilize world peace. And behind all these events seems to be the cunning as well as unscrupulous Professor Moriarty (Jared Harris). When Holmes gets on the track of the large-scale plot, he is not the only one in danger. Moriarty wants to show the master detective that he is not to be trifled with by having Dr. Watson (Jude Law) and his newlywed Mary (Kelly Reilly) killed on their way to their honeymoon. But Holmes is able to prevent the assassination and, along with Watson, sets out to foil Moriarty's plans. With the help of the gypsy Sim (Noomi Rapace) and with the support of Sherlock's brother Mycroft (Stephen Fry) the professor is to be stopped. But he is seemingly always one step ahead of his adversaries...

The fact that Sherlock Holmes: Game in the Shadows works better than its predecessor may be due to the fact that the viewer knows exactly what to expect here. If Part 1 sometimes suffered from the fact that many Sherlock Holmes fans had expected a more classic treatment of the material and found Ritchie's interpretation of it rather difficult to get to grips with, there are no nasty surprises now. Once again, the master detective's famous sleuthing skills are blended with modern action and explosive special effects to create a very entertaining whole that has not only suspense but a hell of a lot of humor to offer.

Another reason for the sequel's better showing is that the antagonist is more interesting. Professor Moriarty is simply the ultimate villain in the Sherlock Holmes universe, and Jared Harris (Mad Men) more than convincingly embodies the ice-cold malevolence of the cruel genius. In addition to Harris, there are two other new additions to the cast. First, Noomi Rapace, best known from the Millennium trilogy as Lisbeth Salander, who has to settle for a rather thankless role in her first major international production. Not only are expectations for Rapace enormously high after her great performance in the Swedish Stieg Larsson adaptations, so it was almost impossible to meet them anyway. Moreover, the character of the gypsy Sim is not interesting or strong enough to stand out next to the Holmes/Watson duo and the much more charismatic Professor Moriarty. Rapace delivers a solid performance, no question. But it can be doubted that the film would have lost a lot of quality if it had to do without Sim.

A real enrichment on the other hand is Stephen Fry as Mycroft Holmes, who provides some very good laughs with his short but extremely eccentric appearances and thus even steals Robert Downey Jr.'s thunder a little bit. Of the actors who were already on board in the first part, only Kelly Reilly really leaves a lasting impression, as her role this time is big enough to have real meaning. Rachel McAdams, on the other hand, despite a great scene, is simply there for too short a time to be remembered at the end and Eddie Marsan, although mentioned very prominently in the credits, actually only passes through the frame once briefly as Inspector Lestrade, really only delivering a nice little cameo appearance.

But back to the reasons that make Game in the Shadows the better of Guy Ritchie's two Sherlock Holmes films (so far). The last reason is the fact that the story takes place in several different locations. In addition to London, Holmes and Watson are also in France, Germany, and Switzerland. And that makes for some visual variety and some very elaborate sets that give the film an extremely high show value. In terms of action, Part 2 also steps it up a notch. The staging is exactly the same as it was in the first movie. Especially the duels like to use extreme slow motion, which makes for many a spectacular image.

So it is fair to say that Sherlock Holmes: Game in the Shadows, like its predecessor, offers good popcorn entertainment with a great Robert Downey Jr. and supporting actors driven by obvious playfulness. If you're looking for action cinema of the more entertaining kind and don't mind the very free interpretation of the classic material, this is definitely a film not to be missed. Worth seeing

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp