Dir: Guy Ritchie
Starring: Robert Downey
Jr, Jude Law, Jared Harris
Moving
still further away from his Cockney gangster movie origins, Guy Ritchie brings
us the sequel to the successful Sherlock
Holmes.
Detective
Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr) is on the case of his famous adversary Professor
Moriarty (Jared Harris). His friend and detecting partner John Watson (Jude
Law) arrives back for his bachelor party which leads to them meeting a
mysterious gypsy (Noomie Rapace) and going in chase of Moriarty.
The
first Sherlock Holmes was a fun if
flawed, action packed and crowd pleasing version of the classic Arthur Conan
Doyle characters. I was hopeful that this sequel could match and improve on the
original as a good sequel should. Unfortunately it doesn’t quite get there.
The
relationship between Holmes and Watson is still great, both actors seeming to
have a great fondness for each other and a lot of fun. This time their
relationship has a bit more Bromance to it, with Holmes still casting off
Watson’s wife so that they can be alone together. Holmes wants Watson to be
happy with his fiancée but he will miss his old companion. The film is still
fun, the usual slew of wide reaching jokes and action bound to please many. Guy
Ritchie still uses interesting visual techniques and shots, with fights playing
out in Holmes’ head before then actually happening and a wonderful chase in a
forest which manages to be visually exciting and interesting and a great set
piece that makes you wish the rest of the film could have been as good.
There
just seems to be something missing. We come into the mystery when it’s already
been tracked for several months and since we know who the villain is it’s not
much of a mystery at all. Noomie Rapace’s gypsy, Madam Simza Heron, is disappointingly
underused. She mostly just ends up leading our duo around and avoiding a lot of
the action.
The
film is not a complete failure. There’s a lot to have fun with in it and it’s a
nice distracting Friday night movie but you won’t be remembering too much of it
in a couple of months time.
A fun
but flawed film which doesn’t surpass its predecessor. Hopefully the third instalment
can break out to be the best of the lot.
3 out of 5 Buttons
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