Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows - film review
Repartee returns in Downey-Law double act
After many years in the directorial wilderness, Guy Ritchie made something of a return to respectability with his all-action interpretation of the Sherlock Holmes story in 2009. He was rewarded with healthy box office returns, and a modicum of critical praise. Unsurprisingly then, Ritchie has stuck closely to the first film's winning formula, combining good-natured bickering between the two leads and a generous portion of action violence to engaging effect.
And once again, the key to the film's success lies with the fractious relationship between Robert Downey Jnr's manic Holmes, and Jude Law's long-suffering Watson. Clearly encouraged by the positive reaction to his performance in the earlier film, Downey Jnr racks up his character's extravagant recklessness to even greater heights. Nothing could be further from Benedict Cumberbatch's cool, calculating portrayal in the recent BBC series, and some might feel Downey Jnr's take is more superficially comic, but he nonetheless manages to make the part his own, and obviously relishes every moment of screen time.
Praise is also due to Jude Law, who admirably puts aside A-list ego to play second fiddle to Downey Jnr, the stoical foil for his partner's comedy. It's a difficult thing to realise you are not the main focus of a feature, especially for a Hollywood superstar such as Law, so his ability to take a step back is credible, and works to the benefit of the film as a whole.
With the two male leads stealing the show, there is (perhaps understandably) a shortage of strong female characters. In one of the film's strongest comic turns, Watson's new fiancée is unceremoniously chucked into a river from a moving train, ostensibly to save her from an assortment of ruffians and ne'er-do-wells, but more probably to free up time for additional man-on-man banter. This rather ungainly defenestration of a female character is symptomatic of the film's attitude as a whole, and although Noomi Rapace has a good crack at her part as an exotic gypsy guide, this remains a firmly Boys' Own adventure.
Indeed, if I had a criticism of Sherlock Holmes it would be this rather overbearing ‘blokey-ness', a feeling not helped by Ritchie's none-too-subtle directing style. Ritchie has lost none of his enthusiasm for super slow-motion explosions and gunfights, and many scenes end up looking like a National Geographic documentary on the theory of ballistics. A little calm might have offered some variety to those of us not unduly fascinated by the mechanics of mortars and handguns.
Nonetheless, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows remains a fun and frolicsome way to spend an afternoon, an unabashed romp that handles its material lightly and gives the two stars plenty of scope for repartee. It is, in the end, a no-nonsense action flick with pyrotechnics on the surface, but an engaging double-act at its heart.
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (12a)
Rating: ***
N2 film reviews – supported by Newbury Vue
