The Cast And Crew Of Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows Reveal New Details On The Movie!

In an incredibly lengthy series of interviews with IGN Movies, the cast and crew of Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows have revealed plenty of new details about the movie. Below are just a brief selection of excerpts, but be sure to click on the link below to read much, much more.

We enjoyed the last one so much it would seem churlish not to return and do another one... We've pretty much reached the end of this one, and it's been great. I like filming in the UK - I'll sleep in my own bed, which I'm really happy about. It's been a pleasure doing this one. We found the identity of the relationship in the last one and we'd like to big that up so to speak. We'd like to try to improve the action a bit, and their relationship a bit, and the significance of the plot. We've tried to maintain and hold onto the identity of the relationship of the last one, but at the same time take it on and evolve that relationship. In part my main priority was the interaction between those two [Holmes and Watson]. And that's still what I really care about. So we've tried to hold onto that and we've tried to augment it and improve it.

There's things that we still want to explore if we get to do a third one, but the thing that - if we're laying down any foundation - is that we need to continue to build upon the characters. That's what's going to be able to let us do another one. Not necessarily clever plot things.

It's not a big mystery. It was one of the crew guys. That was it. There's no great mystery to that. We decided that we wanted more a texture of voice than to worry about it being a person and having to worry about whether or not we were even going to be able to do a second movie. We hoped and we had ideas on what we wanted to explore, but it was really up to the audience as to whether they were going to go and see it in a big enough way that Warner was going to let us go and do another one. So it's quite presumptuous for us to bring someone on just for that, but we loved watching the rumours fly.

Well, I'm sure he might have had a complaint or two. I can't speak for the strength of transcripts of stage productions, but we've definitely put the most of his words in our mouths. If anything, he might be happy that we brought Watson back to how he was originally described. Last time around, there was, for some reason or other, that wave of bromance in the air. I think this time we are attempting to transcend that a little bit by making these two guys go up against something that is bigger than both of them. If I have learned anything it is that comparison is a dangerous place to go because nothing is ever like anything else. So I always think that a sequel you assume is a logical continuation of something that you already understand, but I don't understand how we did it the first time.

Jared is a fantastically experienced and quality actor, which was the most important thing. You wanted someone who could pull the job off. What I got immediately when they mentioned his name is that this guy has got a fantastic range. He can in equal proportions terrify, amuse, entertain, and threaten. You just need all of those on your palette if you are going to play this guy who is meant to be as brilliant, evil, and mysterious as Moriarty is.

They are amazing actors, both of them. But also very brave. I think they are everyday trying to find the best solution. And it doesn't matter if it comes from me or Robert or Jude or Guy or one of the producers – it's like everybody is working together for the same goal, and that's the best team you can be part of. So it's been fantastic. It's kind of being the new girl in the class or something. But you can feel that the whole team has something really good, so it's like stepping into something where somebody else has done the hard work so you can just fly. So it's been a great, fantastic journey. It's been so much fun and every day - well maybe not this day - but we've been working on the characters and the scenes and trying to find the best way to tell the story every day. So it's very searching, exploring work.

One of the things that I was interested in about Moriarty was - he's so manipulative that he doesn't need to commit violence himself or kill people – he can get everyone to do what he needs to do. And sometimes they don't even know that they are being manipulated by him. They aren't even aware that they are caught in a stratagem that he has. In that sense, you don't know which parts of the story he is manipulating and which parts he isn't until you get to the very end. I just thought that was a more interesting approach rather than have him be someone who is dressed up in some black superhero costume running around because there's a lot of that. If you can convey the same sense of menace. For example, I thought, going back to a very famous villain lately, that Hannibal Lecter was much more effective when he was confined to prison. When you let the character out and he was roaming the streets of Florence, he wasn't as threatening. Everything that he was able to do, he was doing through his understanding of psychology and personality and what people wanted. That's quite chilling – to have someone that understands people that well – that he can have a letter arrive on the wrong day and it's going to be enough that it will set somebody off or whatever it is. That doesn't happen in our movie though.