So, the new installment in the Robert Downey Jr.
Sherlock Holmes franchise has arrived this weekend here on Brazil, and today I finally got a chance to watch it.
In this sequel, Holmes is dealing with his most formidable and famous villain, Professor James Moriarty, here played by the impressive Jared Harris(
Fringe, Resident Evil: Apocalypse). The new movie shows us a much younger version of the villain, but still is that same man who can top Holmes brilliance, in every moment that Moriarty and Holmes are together in a scene we can see a certain fight for intelligence between the two of them, the Professor was certainly the best choice they could have gone for this movie, as now we have someone who can actually beat Sherlock intelligence.
Of course the chemistry between our title hero and his nemesis is fantastically put, but, the story related with our bad guy is what fails here. Holmes connects several cases of attacks and murders leading all to Professor Moriarty, from that, comes the return of Irene Adler, who still leades Sherlock to the Professor. At a point, Adler is out of the scene and then Moriarty starts to plan harming others who are connected with Holmes, Watson and his wife for example. As this happens, we see both characters entering in a game in which anyone can get hurt. But as the story goes, and we get to understand what is the actual plan that the villain is plotting, it all gets really confusing, the involvement of the brother of Noomi Rapace character, plastic cirurgy to change peoples faces etc, all that leads to a confusing plotline to the viewers.
But in other side, this new movie differs from the first one in every aspect, of course it is good, plenty of new scenes amuses us and it has way more funny scenes than the last one. Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law characters brings way more hilarious scenes to the movie, intensifying that "bromance" from the last movie that the fans love, and of course, they both have a great chemistry together which is great to watch. Noomi Rapace brings a forgettable character, which you can't care about, and doesn't has a any kind of development not even a romantic one with Holmes. Stephen Fry is also there as "the other Holmes", Mycroft Holmes, even knowing that it is a brief appearance, he still outdoes himself on the role, playing a brilliant version of him and lets not forget that his scenes with RDJ are simply great.
The movie also brings classic references from Doyle books, like the interpretation that Watson has a gambling problem, in which was first referenced in
The Adventure of the Dancing Men by Arthur Conan Doyle, the final showdown between Holmes and Moriarty like on
The Final Problem, or even the best part of the movie for me, which was Watson narrating events of the movie, exactly like in the original tales by Arthur Conan Doyle, in which Watson was the narrator of Holmes stories.
Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows is a good watch, has good comedy scenes and amazing chemistry between the main characters, but, if you don't pay attention to the story you may get lost, as it may be a bit confusing and, you may understand nothing all. But, lets not forget the great sequence on the forest which was perfectly made, with great slow motion sequences and outstanding effects, and also the climax of the movie with Holmes and Moriarty playing chess followed by their awesome final showdown.