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      Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

      2011, Action/Adventure, 2h 9m

      230 Reviews 100,000+ Ratings

      What to know

      Critics Consensus

      Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows is a good yarn thanks to its well-matched leading men but overall stumbles duplicating the well-oiled thrills of the original. Read critic reviews

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      Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows  Photos

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      Movie Info

      When Austria's crown prince is found dead, evidence seems to point to suicide. However, detective Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) deduces that the prince was murdered and that the crime is but a piece of a puzzle designed by an evil genius named Moriarty (Jared Harris). Holmes and his friend Dr. Watson (Jude Law), who are accompanied by a Gypsy (Noomi Rapace) whose life Holmes saved, chase Moriarty across Europe in the hope that they can thwart his plot before it can come to fruition.

      • Rating: PG-13 (Intense Sequences of Violence|Intense Sequences of Action|Some Drug Material)

      • Genre: Action, Adventure, Mystery & thriller

      • Original Language: English

      • Director: Guy Ritchie

      • Producer: Joel Silver, Lionel Wigram, Susan Downey, Dan Lin

      • Writer: Michele Mulroney, Kieran Mulroney

      • Release Date (Theaters):  wide

      • Release Date (Streaming):

      • Box Office (Gross USA): $186.8M

      • Runtime:

      • Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures

      • Production Co: Silver Pictures, Wigram Productions

      • Sound Mix: SDDS, Dolby Digital

      Cast & Crew

      Robert Downey Jr.
      Jude Law
      Noomi Rapace
      Jared Harris
      Stephen Fry
      Paul Anderson
      Kelly Reilly
      Eddie Marsan
      William Houston
      Wolf Kahler
      Jack Laskey
      Kieran Mulroney
      Dan Lin
      Bruce Berman
      Steve Clark-Hall
      Philippe Rousselot
      Sarah Greenwood
      James Herbert
      Hans Zimmer
      Jenny Beavan
      James Foster
      Nick Gottschalk
      Alison Harvey

      News & Interviews for Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

      Critic Reviews for Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

      Audience Reviews for Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

      • Apr 28, 2021
        Just as fun and visually inventive as the first one. Really wish Ritchie was making more of these himself.
        Super Reviewer
      • Mar 22, 2016
        Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows might feel like the same for some, but in my opinion I like this slightly more than the first film. It has the great performances, action and fun that made the first one so awesome.
        Super Reviewer
      • Aug 25, 2013
        For the record, I do remember enjoying the first Sherlock Holmes movie starring Robert Downey Jr. as the eponymous sleuth, liking most of the performances and the action. But in the interval, there has been one great('Sherlock') and one very good('Elementary') modern day updates of the great detective to the small screen which also served to remind us all that Holmes is much more about solving a puzzle than saving the world. And even without that, I still don't think "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows" would merit a recommendation, as it resembles nothing more than an out of control train ride while being on a huge amount of medications, centering on a central scheme that is both grandiose and banal.(Not recommended, by the way.) Since it desperately tries to cram in as much comedy and action as much as humanly possible(including one very unfortunate scene involving Stephen Fry), I'm not sure what happens at the start of the movie. Basically, any recollection of a plot starts with Sherlock taking the opportunity of Watson's(Jude Law) stag party to visit Simza(Noomi Rapace), a fortune teller, before 43 separate fights start. So, it's no surprise that the best scene in the movie is the wedding as it expresses so much about the characters' true reltionships while providing a much needed quiet moment. The climax by comparison does not quite work whereas the final confrontation between Holmes and Moriarty(Jared Harris, an uninspired casting) works out much better, if too little, too late.
        walter m Super Reviewer
      • Mar 09, 2013
        Having heard many a negative review of this film I was pleasantly surprised and entertained by this 2nd offering of Downey Jr. as Conan Doyle's famous detective. It was established in the first film that Downey's Holmes is much more the action figure than the text intended, but if you can forgive that, then this film, as the first, is solid and entertaining. Director Guy Ritchie as usual does tend to teeter into excess in his style over substance approach (he doesn't really give you the chance to be fully absorbed in the film... ie. Forgetting that you are watching a film - mainly due to his overuse of camera techniques; in particular the stop action/slow mo/fast mo that dates back to the Matrix films - especially in a overly long "escape" scene with the heroes running through the woods as bullets fly around them). It is this scene and a couple of others that could have used a bit of judicious editing to prevent the film from bogging down - but that being said, the chess match (real and metaphorical) between Holmes and arch villain Moriarty (a wonderful turn by Richard Harris' son Jared) certainly makes for compelling viewing. Ritchie also uses an interesting technique to let you "inside" Holmes' brain. Showing us how and why he will execute certain maneuvers and assessing their potential - and then showing us the action and the result in real time. This could be off-putting to some, but I found it a stroke of brilliance; especially at the film's climax when Holmes' "thoughts" are interrupted by Moriarty. A kind of "well, if you do this, then I'll do that" bit of sophistry akin to thinking 3 moves ahead on a chess board. This film, as was the case with its predecessor, has a fair amount of humor (the scene with Holmes aboard a pony was laugh out loud funny), and really - it's this insertion of humor that tells you that you are watching "entertainment" - that Ritchie knew going in that this was not something to be treated in utmost seriousness. There are a few other flaws that I tend to overlook - for example Jude Law's Watson overemphasizes his war wound limp at film's beginning... which of course totally disappears when the script needs him to transform into an action hero. There is also the rather hackneyed sentiments about Watson's wedding and how that will allegedly effect Holmes - you kind of role your eyes and move on to the meat of the matter - the sublime cat and mouse game between Holmes and Moriarty - ignore the rest and you will be totally entertained.
        Super Reviewer

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