Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows [DVD + UV Copy] [2012]

To start with, anything after the original TV Sherlock Holmes, this will never be better. But this film is modern with a new touch. It brings back some of Sherlocks rivals. For me a great film .

As a stuffy Canon purist who despised the first movie for its painfully out of character portrayals and Holmes' utter slovenliness, I can say with honesty that despite my reservations,'A Game of Shadows' not only outshined its predecessor, at its heart was more substance than I ever thought possible for what I'd dismissed as a mindless action flick. Guy Ritchie clearly took pains to correct much of what was broken in his '09 effort, from the little touches to the major issues regarding the disjointed feel to his directing. I was relieved to note that there were improvements made in cleaning up Holmes' intolerable slovenliness - though by no means does he display the "quiet primness of dress" Watson wrote him as having, he is slightly more of a conventionally dressed gentleman here. Slightly. And while RDJ's Holmes is far from the "quiet thinker of Baker Street", here we see performances that become entirely more recognizable.The modernity and steampunk elements have been toned down somewhat, and the fact that two completely different (and talented) writers had scripted this one was glaringly obvious. We have a Holmes whose intelligence has been dulled for the sake of comic relief, I am sad to say, but in this film it is done in a more tolerable - even endearing - manner. I also confess to despising Jude Law's Watson in the first film, for what I thought was an uncalled for level of hostility. Best of all was the fact that the razor edge to his character was blunted in the sequel, and we we are given a Watson who is exasperated, yet lurking underneath was a palpable fondness not present in the first installment. I could believe that underneath it all was a friendship, and that honestly made all the difference in convincing me this was the man who would willingly follow Holmes to the ends of the earth. We are shown the camaraderie and affection between Holmes and Watson that existed in Doyle's stories, and understand how it hurt them both when the doctor marries Mary Morstan. Regardless of how you view their relationship, this did pain Holmes in Canon, and I've never seen that heartbreak rendered so beautifully and respectfully as it was here.I was especially taken with Jared Harris' performance as Professor Moriarity, and the back story surrounding him has quickly become a favourite with me. He was quite convincing as an amoral intellect to rival the foremost mind of his time - when they clash, it is genuinely frightening, and the shivers come not because we think he's some volatile nutter, but because his decided lack of a conscience becomes a true counterweight to Holmes' sense of justice. Holmes of Canon was a flawed man (why we love him, honestly) but he was also a good man. He would have come to the same conclusions about humanity and the coming wars as Moriarity did in this film, but opposed them all the same. He is a worthy opponent, and we feel this throughout.Of course, I had my issues, mainly with the overdone action sequences that I find boring and the scene in the train where Holmes is decked out in drag. But these quibbles are easy to overlook when the movie was such a fresh take on 'The Final Problem', when we were given such a beautiful representation of the love (whether you see it platonic or otherwise) between Holmes and Watson, and that memorable ending scene where all Holmes' logic is cast to the wayside with one selfless act. It was truly gorgeous, and elevated this from being just another action flick to an actual relevant movie pastiche. While it doesn't approach the loyalty as that of the BBC adaptation, it does do ACD's immortal characters justice this time around.

"Moderate Violence"? obviously the control board were born after 1982, I prefer the first although that has its sequences, this is a follow up, Very good but I think Robert Downey Jnr and Jude Law can do better for Sherlock III, they will bless me for that!, if they are allowed some poetic licence in ad-lib and scene development. Too much US violence and too many Somme guns as my daughter and her friend who saw the original in the cinema observed, I bought it anyway, why should they have all the fun?, having arrived recently the view during a session of severe sinus and hay fever from the cat dust and flowers on a cold winter Sunday in late May, colder than North Wales last year, so no doubt this clouds one's judgement, but I can see it again and again and view the extras. The first was clever, this one shot too many people on behalf of George Bush and an impending election of DC 2012 Local councils, or any other Presidents to whom the mountain would not come and so the Cherry Tree was chopped down to bring the Preservation Orders down to earth and take the President up the Mountain. I read most of Holmes when a teenager along with Navy and Hemingway, Tom Sawyer, Shakespeare, I prefer Hemingway, so this in some ways does better justice, but then Jeremy Brett may yet stand the time as the better produced version much similar to Robert Mitchum Raymond Chandler Philip Marlowe in sepia glass panels, this is a classic set. I hope they produce a third, partly to relieve Mafeking at the second attempt, I am sure they can do it justice to pick a theme book. I would put it in a class with Hugh Laurie Jeeves and Wooster for absolutely completely different reasons, wearing the trousers on landing. Thank you for the supply on time and in good condition, not the trousers, just the DVD, I see you can buy it in many formats of Assembly. Could they bring back Michael Caine and Stephen Fry as Mycroft?, men in kilts. Jared Harris made a good Moriarty, but then Donald Sutherland knew that when driving tanks he did not fix, and the rest of the cast also were excellent, I liked Watson's wife and Madam Simza Heron, well portrayed. Excellent, play it again Sam. P.S. the acting was nice too and there were great misty scenes. Sherlock Holmes [DVD] [2009 ]

Full of action and quick fast humour