2009 among st a year of frankly crappy blockbusters, bar a few (watchmen, star trek) an unlikely competitor steeped up to the plate and delivered in the shape of Sherlock Holmes. Critically acclaimed by most Guy Richie take on Sherlock Holmes became the surprise hit of 2009. However when i went to see the film i wasn't all too impressed on 'most surprising film of the year'. Which is why I was intrigued to see what the series had to offer this year with its sequal ' game of shadows' , as it could no longer play the 'surprise card' its predecessor did.
Sherlock holmes: game of shadows is actually quite alike the 1st, more action than detective work and more drama than mystery. Which isnt nessessely a bad thing. My problem with the 1st film was that it completely changed the story behind the classic Sherlock Holmes. Instead of a classic pipe and magnifying glass the screen was now full of gunshots, chase scenes and silly hand to hand combat, with actually very little detective work. However i now knew how sequel was going to play out so i wasn't expecting a detective film like before, i was now expecting a full on action film which is pretty much what I got. And there was a lot of it! Too much. Although action does bring in a much wider audience to the cinema, you cant forget the main aspect behind Sherlock Holmes...he's a detective not an action hero.
I have to admit however that i am being a bit picky with this film and overall i was pleasantly surprised. The film was well paced as you could feel the pressure from the characters, i also really like how the detective aspect was used in even the fight scenes where he breaks down his opponent and his up coming fight however it was at times confusing. This techniques was also used to see each mechanism working in the guns which also worked just as well.
This concludes my slightly rushed review of sherlock holmes 2 game of shadows.
