Thanks to a more compelling villain, better pacing, and more action, Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows is a big improvement over the first film in this series. With more serious end of the year fare taking over the box office for the remainder of the year, the latest adventure of the world’s most famous detective provides a solid mystery, great banter, and the same loveable characters that made the first film in this series so entertaining.

The relationship between Holmes and Watson is one of the most fascinating elements in this franchise. It’s not breaking new ground or anything – Holmes takes issue with Watson’s new bride-to-be, realizing it could be the end of their adventures together – but this subplot is so well-handled that it feels fresh. Much of the conflict goes unspoken between the two friends, each coming to grips with the inevitability that one day; their partnership will come to an end. This kind of communication could be interpreted as homoeroticism by some, but I choose to read it just as two friends who have worked together through countless adventures and have a detailed understanding of the other’s methods. Holmes legitimately cares for Watson far more than he lets on, as revealed in his first meeting with Moriarty in which he asks for Watson and his new bride to be excluded from their deadly game of wits. Watson cares as well, evidenced in the story he writes about his friend. It’s a Wyatt Earp/Doc Holliday dynamic, and one that is rarely explored as interestingly on screen.

Noomi Rapace, who brought an intense physicality and commitment to the role of Lisbeth Salander in the original Swedish version of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, falls flat here, essentially playing the Penelope Cruz role in Pirates of the Caribbean 4. For the most part, her character Sim is an inactive observer, serving no other purpose than to lead our main characters to the MacGuffin (her brother, an anarchist who is the final piece in Moriarty’s puzzle). Rachel McAdams reprises her role from the first film, but she’s not nearly as involved this time around. It’s a shame; Irene Adler is a far more compelling character than Rapace’s Sim. As the femme fatale in the first film, Irene was just clever enough to provide problems for Holmes, and seeing him flustered and distracted by her was a welcome obstacle on the way to accomplishing his larger goals. Much of the first film hints at Irene’s relationship with Moriarty, and as an audience, we wonder how she became involved with him and what role she plays in his grand plans. I was hoping we’d get even more of this type of interaction, but…let’s just say that doesn’t quite happen in A Game of Shadows.

In the first movie, we never saw Moriarty’s face because the filmmakers weren’t sure who would play him in the sequel (Brad Pitt was rumored at one point, due to his previous working relationship with Guy Ritchie). Here, Jared Harris from “Mad Men” steps out of the shadows and plays a terrific Moriarty, the perfect antithesis of Holmes and a truly worthy adversary. While Lord Blackwood’s satanic magic was spooky in its own right, I never got the feeling that Holmes was stumped by him. The same cannot be said here, as Moriarty puts Holmes’ back against the wall at every turn. Harris as Moriarty is the best part of this film; he does a great job making the audience believe he’s actually smarter than Holmes, which gives the hero an underdog status that we haven’t seen from him yet. The filmmakers know that if it was too easy for Holmes, the audience would lose interest, so bringing on his arch nemesis this early in the game is a wise move.

The pacing is great; with Ritchie and his writers doling out action sequences or intellectual reveals every few minutes to keep us entertained along the way. There’s even a bit of subversion of expectations as Holmes goes into his patented slow motion fight mode and is interrupted by Rapace’s character hurling a knife into Holmes’ opponent. The setup without the payoff works as a comedic moment, a more involved rehashing of Spielberg’s iconic scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark in which Indiana Jones, exasperated, pulls out his gun and simply shoots a swordsman. There are big action set pieces that work well, too – a train sequence in which an attempt is made on Watson’s life, and an excellent woods escape that uses speed ramping that should make Zack Snyder stop what he’s doing and come take a look.

Prolific composer Hans Zimmer also returns, continuing his storied career with another solid score. His work here sounds like the jangly theme song for “Dexter” (especially in the gypsy-heavy sequences) blended with his score for Rob Marshall’s Pirates 4. I found it odd how much Zimmer uses those gypsy-inspired sections throughout the film even though the corresponding characters are so bland on screen. This isn’t close to Zimmer’s best work – not even his best work this year, since that honor belongs to Rango – but for a big studio sequel, it gets the job done.

With an increase in humor, a better mystery, and a more intricate villain, A Game of Shadows improves on the first film in nearly every way. It’s fun to watch Downey and Law build these characters and banter with each other, and even more fun to watch the character of Sherlock Holmes face an opponent who is his intellectual equal (or who may be even better than he is). Looking to the future, my only concern is with the ending; while the first film ended with a clear direction for a sequel, I can’t help but wonder where the series can go from here. That’s the problem with bringing in a story’s most famous villain in the second movie, an issue Christopher Nolan faces as he wraps up his Batman trilogy. We’ll see how both of those series handle that pressure in the coming months and years; we don’t have much longer to wait for The Dark Knight Rises, and it’ll probably take a couple of years before we see another Sherlock Holmes because of Downey’s commitments to Marvel (Iron Man 3, an Avengers sequel, etc). But even if we have to wait a few years, I’m still looking forward to seeing more adventures of Holmes and Watson on the big screen. Until next time…

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Warner Bros. has released the second official trailer for Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, and it’s more action-packed than the first.

With the shock of seeing Robert Downey Jr. in drag out of the way our attention can return to the many slow-mo shots and explosions, along with the return of Rachel McAdams as Irene Adler and more of Professor Moriarty. Still no glimpse of Stephen Fry though.

Watch the new trailer below:

In A Game of Shadows Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey, Jr.) and his longtime trusted associate, Doctor Watson (Jude Law), take on their arch-nemesis, Professor Moriarty (Jared Harris), with the help of Holmes’s older brother Mycroft Holmes (Stephen Fry) and a gypsy called Sim (Noomi Rapace).

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows will be released December 16, 2011.

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Warner Bros. have released the first official trailer for Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows.

As with most sequels it’s more of the same, just with bigger action and the comedy is turned up a notch (Sherlock Holmes appears in drag). The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo actress Noomi Rapace looks set to be a great addition to the sequel, although i’m disappointed with the lack of Stephen Fry.

Watch below:

If the trailer music sounds familiar it’s because the marketing department have used the same music they used in the trailer for the first film. I suppose there’s no need to try out new stuff if the music already works.

In A Game of Shadows Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey, Jr.) and his longtime trusted associate, Doctor Watson (Jude Law), take on their arch-nemesis, Professor Moriarty (Jared Harris), with the help of Holmes’s older brother Mycroft Holmes (Stephen Fry) and a gypsy called Sim (Noomi Rapace).

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The first trailer for Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows is expected to hit any day now, and in preparation USA Today posted our first official look at Jared Harris as villain Professor Moriarty. Warner Bros. have also released plot details for the sequel.

Here’s the full synopsis:

Robert Downey Jr. reprises his role as the world’s most famous detective, Sherlock Holmes, and Jude Law returns as his formidable colleague, Dr. Watson, in “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.”

Sherlock Holmes has always been the smartest man in the room…until now. There is a new criminal mastermind at large—Professor Moriarty (Jared Harris)—and not only is he Holmes’ intellectual equal, but his capacity for evil, coupled with a complete lack of conscience, may actually give him an advantage over the renowned detective.

When the Crown Prince of Austria is found dead, the evidence, as construed by Inspector Lestrade (Eddie Marsan), points to suicide. But Sherlock Holmes deduces that the prince has been the victim of murder—a murder that is only one piece of a larger and much more portentous puzzle, designed by one Professor Moriarty.

Mixing business with pleasure, Holmes tracks the clues to an underground gentlemen’s club, where he and his brother, Mycroft Holmes (Stephen Fry) are toasting Dr. Watson on his last night of bachelorhood. It is there that Holmes encounters Sim (Noomi Rapace), a Gypsy fortune teller, who sees more than she is telling and whose unwitting involvement in the prince’s murder makes her the killer’s next target. Holmes barely manages to save her life and, in return, she reluctantly agrees to help him.

The investigation becomes ever more dangerous as it leads Holmes, Watson and Sim across the continent, from England to France to Germany and finally to Switzerland. But the cunning Moriarty is always one step ahead as he spins a web of death and destruction—all part of a greater plan that, if he succeeds, will change the course of history.

Filmmaker Guy Ritchie returns to direct “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows,” the follow-up to the smash hit “Sherlock Holmes.” The sequel also reunites producers Joel Silver, Lionel Wigram, Susan Downey and Dan Lin. Bruce Berman serves as executive producer, with Steve Clark-Hall co-producing.

Jared Harris (TV’s “Mad Men,” “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”) joins the cast as the notorious Professor Moriarty. Also joining the cast, in her first English-speaking role, is Swedish actress Noomi Rapace, who gained international attention in the Swedish film “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.” Stephen Fry (“Alice in Wonderland,” “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire”) plays Mycroft Holmes, Sherlock’s older brother.

Additional cast members returning from the first film include Eddie Marsan as Inspector Lestrade; Kelly Reilly as Watson’s bride, Mary Morstan; and Geraldine James as Holmes’s long-suffering landlady, Mrs. Hudson. “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows” is written by Michele Mulroney & Kieran Mulroney. Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson were created by the late Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and appear in stories and novels by him.

Warner Bros. Pictures presents, in association with Village Roadshow Pictures, a Silver Pictures Production, in association with Wigram Productions, a Guy Ritchie Film, “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.”

The film will be distributed worldwide beginning December 16, 2011, by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company, and in select territories by Village Roadshow Pictures.

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According to Alberta Film Ratings a trailer for Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows has recently been approved and runs for 2 minutes 16 seconds.

So far there has been no confirmation as to when it will be released, but as it’s a Warner Bros. movie there’s a good chance it will be attached to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 which comes out on July 15th.

In A Game of Shadows Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey, Jr.) and his longtime trusted associate, Doctor Watson (Jude Law), take on their arch-nemesis, Professor Moriarty (Jared Harris), with the help of Holmes’s older brother Mycroft Holmes (Stephen Fry) and a gypsy called Sim (Noomi Rapace).

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Since being cast as Moriarty (the shadowy figure who was revealed to be the mastermind behind Rachel McAdams’ dirty work) in Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows we haven’t really heard much from Jared Harris regarding the role.

However, in a recent interview the actor spoke about playing the villain in the film and, while he doesn’t reveal any story details, he mentions we won’t be getting one of those scenes where the villain reveals his motives at length during the final act (before being thwarted by the hero and subsequently defeated/killed).

From Digital Spy:

What do you hope you bring to the role?
“My thing was, I just never wanted to explain myself. There’s always that scene where the villain has to tell you what he’s doing and why he’s doing it. Guy luckily agreed with me and so did Robert. Why? Why do we need that? You’re not going to explain yourself or what you’re doing. There’s a sort of arrogance about the character that’s similar to Sherlock Holmes. They’re both incredibly intelligent people, they’re chess masters thinking many moves down the line. They don’t know all of their opponents moves but they’ve got a lot of them. They’re 20 moves ahead on their own plan. I just always wanted to create a sense that he had something else up his sleeve. As you unfold the story there’s another step involved.”

Is it a challenge to make him seem believable?
“You want him to seem believable but there’s a certain element of villainey, he isn’t just a bad school teacher. He’s an evil villainous person otherwise he’s not worth stopping. As soon as you know what the villain is doing you lose interest in the character and as soon as they state their purpose the tension goes out of the character. So often in these movies the bad guy appears as a theatrical villain, he ends up telling you what he’s done or what he’s going to do. Like a play you can’t move the scenery around so you’re describing events you’re never going to see.”

You can read the full interview here.

Villain revelation scenes are usually tiresome and cheesy, so it’s good to see they will be treating the audience like adults by letting them figure the story out for themselves.

As well as Harris, the film will also star The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo actress Noomi Rapace who plays a French Gypsy. We also see the return of Jude Law as Watson and Robert Downey Jr. as Holmes, with Stephen Fry playing his older brother Mycroft.

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows will be released December 2011.

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With Zack Snyder now occupied until December 2012 with the Superman reboot there is a potential opening for another director to take over Xerxes, the prequel to 300 Snyder and Frank Miller have been working on for the past few years.

The last we heard Snyder confirmed that work on the Xerxes script had started, and while he hadn’t signed up to direct, he intended to. This was before he signed up to direct Superman though, and it seems Warner Bros. is still interested in moving forward as they have apparently offered the job to Guy Ritchie (Sherlock Holmes).

According to Vulture the studio wants Snyder to focus on Superman as it needs to be in production by 2013 otherwise they loses the rights to the entire Superman franchise. The site also speculates that as Watchmen and Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole under-performed the studio have less faith in Snyder (but if that was the case why give him the Superman job?).

I think it is most likely that Warner Bros. wants to continue developing Xerxes even though Snyder is busy, and Guy Ritchie is a solid replacement having provided the studio with a new franchise. While I was looking forward to another visual feast from Snyder I think Ritchie could handle the material quite well.

Last year Frank Miller revealed a few details on what Xerxes will involve, and who we can expect to show up:

The time frame begins 10 years before ‘300′ and the story starts with the Battle of Marathon” … “The lead character is Themistocles, who became warlord of Greece and built their navy. The story is very different than ‘300′ in that it involves Xerxes search for godhood. The existence of gods are presupposed in this story and the idea is that he is well on his way to godhood by the end of the story. With Themistocles I have a character who is almost the dead opposite of Leonidas in that Themistocles was a lying, conniving, brilliant, heroic figure. He was nicknamed ‘The Subtle Serpent’ and he always manages to do the exact right things that will result in him benefiting greatly.”

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Instead of simply calling the Sherlock Holmes sequel Sherlock Holmes 2 Warner Bros. has decided to call the movie Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. The news comes from E! Online who aren’t particularly fond of it, but it sounds Sherlock Homles-esque enough for me.

So far we have few details on what Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows will involve (although the title may provide some hints). Mad Men actor Jared Harris has been cast as Moriarty (the shadowy figure who was revealed to be the mastermind behind Rachel McAdams’ dirty work in the first film), so the storyline will likely revolve around his character and his other schemes. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo actress Noomi Rapace plays a French Gypsy opposite Jude Law and Watson and Robert Downey Jr. as Holmes, with Stephen Fry playing his older brother Mycroft.

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows will be released December 2011. What do you think of the title?

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Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law recently sat down for an interview on the set of Sherlock Holmes 2, which is once again directed by Guy Ritchie and has been filming in London, Paris and Switzerland over recent months. The pair mention how Holmes and Watson are in much deeper trouble this time round, and get a jolly good beating.

From Hero Complex:

From the looks of things, that latter task won’t be particularly easy, given that Ritchie appears to be continuing with the gritty, stylized approach he adopted for the first movie. “I think one of the most exciting things in this one is the fear level,” says Law. “We get pretty kicked around. Just look at the state of us.”

“Unlike last time, where Holmes kept getting Watson into trouble,” adds actor Downey, “this time Watson is getting Holmes out of trouble, and they’re both in deeper trouble than I think the audience could have imagined we could go…. All manner of nastiness has just occurred.”

You can read more from the interview, included descriptions of action scenes shot that day, by clicking here.

So far we have no details on what Sherlock Holmes 2 will involve, but Mad Men actor Jared Harris has been cast as Moriarty (the shadowy figure who was revealed to be the mastermind behind Rachel McAdams’ dirty work in the first film), so the storyline will likely revolve around his character and his other schemes. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo actress Noomi Rapace who plays a French Gypsy in the movie.

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Warner Bros. has released the first official image from Sherlock Holmes 2 which features Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) Dr. Watson (Jude Law) and Noomi Rapace who plays a French Gypsy in the movie.

Last month Rapace spoke about her research for the film, saying:

“I’m doing a lot of research about gypsies. I’m going to Paris to visit some gypsy camps, and I’m going to Transylvania to actually see how they live. Because the gypsies are so poor, they live pretty much the same as they did then, and they keep in the traditions and all of that, so when you go to Transylvania, for example, they live pretty close to the way they lived hundreds of years ago. So I’m listening to gypsy music and I’m learning to sing and dance.”

So far we have no details on what Sherlock Holmes 2 will involve, but Mad Men actor Jared Harris has been cast as Moriarty (the shadowy figure who was revealed to be the mastermind behind Rachel McAdams’ dirty work in the first film), so the storyline will likely revolve around his character and his other schemes.

Filming is currently underway in London, but the cast will also be required to shoot elsewhere this time round as Downey hinted that we may see “a bit of Paris” and “a bit of Switzerland by the end, if I’m not mistaken.”

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