Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows was one of my most-anticipated movies of this year, probably behind only the Muppets. I enjoyed it, but didn’t love it.

Holmes is the same sarcastic, socially inept, brilliant man. This time around he’s pitted against Moriarty, a name any Holmes fan will recognize. Moriarty is Holmes’ only intellectual equal, but he is purely evil and power-hungry. His plan is to start a war and provide weapons to both sides. The interplay between the two was well-done I thought, although Moriarty’s plan was a little complicated, to say the least. He and Holmes were like two sides of the same coin.

My problem with the movie is that I had seen it before. The filming, the glimpses into Holmes’ thought process, even the proclivity for costumes, nothing was new. The plot alone didn’t grab me enough and I’m not sure that there was really much character development from the original. Or maybe I’m just mad that Irene Adler didn’t have a bigger part.

Things I did like:

  • Sherlock Holmes.  One of the characters I truly love, in all his incarnations.
  • Mycroft Holmes. Great addition to the series. The brilliant big brother who works in government.
  • The falls. But really how else could it have ended?

It’s a fun adventure, although not one that had me raving about how much I loved it.

3½ out of 5 stars

Release Date: December 16, 2011
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 129 minutes

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