Yep, poster didn’t help to drum up biz…
Look, I know the literary version of Sherlock Holmes rarely if ever engaged in life or death fisticuffs, even if he were able to deduce the immediate future he probably didn’t engage slo-mo in his visions. Though the novels didn’t make it explicitly clear he more than likely wasn’t much chop at parkour.
But that was the literary version of what I might add is a fictional character. This is the cinematic version. You don’t sell many tickets pandering to a generation that loves the work of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, you need a bit more spice than that.
The first of Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes films slipped by me, though to be fair I hardly went out of my way to capture it. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I quite unexpectedly enjoyed the flick. For some reason though that didn’t translate into me eagerly awaiting this sequel.
Once again I let this pass by while I spent good money on The Muppets (worth it), The Inbetweeners (OK) and The US Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (vomit).
This is a better film than any of them, and nearly as much fun as the Muppets.
It is 1891. Europe stands on a knife edge of political unrest with a series of inflammatory acts by extremists and radicals pushing tensions to almost breaking point.
It seems that a World War is imminent, it just needs one little nudge to set it off…
Sherlock (Robert Downey Jr) is still around. Still quick with a joke, quick with his fists and of course unbelievably quick with the old noodle. This time around he has fallen in love with a disguise or two. He is also still as mad as a bag full of Kanye’s (but in an actually entertaining way), seemingly having lost the plot even more than usual. As the film opens he comes across as a Beautiful Mind crossed with the Number 23…
Sherlock believes firmly that these apparently random terrorist acts and assassinations are the brainchild of one man, Professor James Morairty (Jared Harris). No-one believes him of course. It doesn’t help his claim that Moriarty is apparently an all round good guy, respected by all and even consulted on matters of national security on top of being a mathemagenuis.
But this doesn’t deter Sherlock, he deliberately waylays the honeymoon of Dr Watson (Jude Law), starting at the buck’s party, and together the duo set off on an adventure all over Europe to get discover the extent of Moriarty’s plans and the reasons behind them.
Rachel McAdams appears once again as Irene Adler in a role that is little more than a cameo. This time around the female lead is none other than Lizbeth Salander herself Noomi Rapace, as the gypsy Madam Sim, who unknowingly holds the key to breaking the case. Stephen Fry is also introduced as Holmes’ similarly loquacious, pretentious and almost as brilliantly intelligent (and lunatic) brother Mycroft.
With Holmes and Moriarty being eggheads at heart these gentlemanly combatants can go head to head and face to face numerous times without the credits scrolling shortly after. This is because the film plays out like the chess game that is a little shoehorned into proceedings before being launched proper near the finale. The sparring that takes place throughout the film is ever so polite and carefully worded as hero and nemesis openly discuss both their own plans and the expected counter-actions of their foe without fear of anything as crude and improper as physical violence.
It also helps that this time around the mumbling Holmes that frustrated me so in the first film has been replaced by a version that more clearly enunciates his dialogue. My ears quite appreciated this tweak.
But enough about the polite smart guys vying for mental and intellectual dominance, the best features of this film are in the action. With Lock, Stock… Snatch and Rock’N’Rolla Guy Ritchie has proven he has a knack for snappy dialogue, the Sherlock films prove that he is getting a lot better at producing blockbuster action.
Once again the centrepiece of the film starts with a beautiful big-ass explosion, which is then followed closely by a frankly awesome chase sequence through the nearby woods. Kinetic and furious, the scene is immaculately filmed and punctuated with several gorgeous super slo-mo moments and some of the trickiest camerawork that I can remember.
This one sequence makes the film worthy of a solid recommendation, but the remainder of the film is solid too.
I ignored the first Sherlock film for too long, catching it some months after it was released to DVD. That was my bad – more fool me. This film is even better, with only a couple of ill defined characters holding it back from greatness, (unfortunately the gypsy Sim is one of them). Again I waited until the DVD to catch it.
Fool me once, shame on you Sherlock. Fool me twice…
I won’t be making the same mistake thrice. If Mr Holmes and Doc Watson once again grace the big screen – and I for one hope they do – I will this time be lining up for tix.
Final Rating – 8 / 10. Sherlock might not do as much deducin’ as he did in the books, but he is just as entertaining in other ways. With the lamentable state of blockbusters these days it’s a shame that this film didn’t get more attention, (from me also).
