Sherlock Holmes : A Game of Shadows

Rating : 10/10
Release Date : 30th December, 2011
Time : 129 minutes
Director : Guy Ritchie; Writer : Michele & Kieran Mulroney (based on characters created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle); Music : Hans Zimmer
Starring : Robert Downey Jr, Jude Law, Jared Harris, Noomi Rapace, Stephen Fry, Rachel Mc Adams, Kelly Reilly

A cracking story, crackling performances, the spirit of Conan Doyle’s memorable characters, a sequel that takes off from the last film left off and takes it forward. In the immortal words of the sleuth, the game is truly afoot…

Unlike most thrillers, here we know who the villain is. We’re just not sure what he’s upto or how. How an assassination in India is linked to a bombing in Strasbourg, to a murder of a renowned doctor in London. This duel between Moriarity and Sherlock is epic, carefully constructed, full of mutual respect and admiration, encompassing several cities and very hard to describe further without giving it away. I simply loved the fact that it stayed true to the ethos, the essence of the characters created by the author and even incorporated a couple of crucial scenes from a particular story.


Mycroft Holmes also makes an appearance. A gypsy woman enthrals. A sharpshooter. A Cossack assassin. An anarchist who seems to have found his higher purpose. Another who feels trapped in a deal with the devil. Mary Watson, who’s planned honeymoon in Brighton, doesn’t quite seem to go as desired.

Most fascinating of all, is the relationship between Holmes and Watson. Giving Watson a spine, a purpose, removing him from Holmes’ shadow and breathing some life into him is perhaps the biggest masterstroke by Guy Ritchie and his merry men. Holmes continuing opposition to Watson’s impending marriage, his attempts to constantly involve him in his investigations is equalled only by Watson’s firm rejection of the former and only semi-reluctant acceptance of the latter. Even Moriarity is not quite sure of what to make of Watson.


Their repartee lights up an otherwise dark film, played out in the shadows (as the title suggests) or at night. Jokes fly thick and fast, whether verbal or written. ‘Come if convenient. If inconvenient, come all the same’ or ‘how many times are you going to kill Gladstone ?’ or the masterpiece ‘Did you just kill my wife ?’; ‘I timed it perfectly’.

Cinematically, the film is a visual delight ! Simple sequences are given an interesting camera perspective. A chase sequence through the woods is slowed down to enhance the thrill. Sparks, the workings of inner mechanisms, the clinking of wheels, gears meshing are all used to accentuate an action and create an optical thrill of something otherwise routine. Tight editing ensures your interest doesn’t flag for even a second. The soundtrack runs through your head hours after you’ve left the hall. And the device used in the previous film, of Holmes forseeing the entire sequence of events before their execution, is used a few times in this film to spectacular effect, yet with enough twists (‘breakfast is served’) to not let it get it repetitive.



Guy Ritchie, I have loved each one of your three previous films (the first one having spawned a thousand imitations) but this one, more than any other. And the last second of this film, the last action, the mere addition of an interjection, says / explains why.

There is a freshness about characters that I have known since childhood. A reinterpretation without taking away their endearing qualities. A modernisation without taking away the period. An idea that is executed in the best way possible, with a cast that is picture perfect. The standing ovation by the audience in the show we attended said it all…

Sherlock Holmes

Rating : 8/10
Release Date : 8th Jan, 2010 (India)
Time : 128 minutes
Director : Guy Ritchie; Writer : Michael Robert Johnson, Anthony Peckham, Simon Kinberg; Music : Hans Zimmer
Starring : Robert Downey Jr, Jude Law, Rachel McAdams, Mark Strong, Eddie Marsan, Geraldine James, Kelly Reilly

The true measure of the genius behind this film is that it borrows a mere skeletal outline of Conan Doyle’s Holmes, infuses an overall raw physicality, concocts a new case, gives its characters a fresh outlook to life and yet, does it all without totally alienating people born and brought up (like me) on Jeremy Brett and / or the 56 short stories / 4 novels preceding it.


The case is engaging, different to most that Holmes faced previously (involves the black arts) and has sufficient twists and turns to keep us glued. Holmes arrests a Lord Blackwood, who’s butchered 5 women to death, and he is sentenced to death. Yet it is not the end. As Lord Blackwood says, just as he’s about to be hanged, “Death is only the beginning”. And so it proves. (Didn’t Imhotep say / scribble the same thing in ‘The Mummy’ ?)


The delight comes from watching the familiar characters : Holmes / Watson / Irene Adler / Mrs Hudson : in totally new personalities. Holmes is very talkative, effusive, quite an extrovert with a mischievous sense of humour. He has lost none of his famous deductive powers but has also acquired a rugged physicality, a person who loves to box, wager, drink, loves a challenge and to fight, get into a scrap.
Watson, is more taciturn, is no longer the understudy or under Holmes shadow but almost as strong / intelligent a personality by himself. One interesting aspect through the film is the resentment Holmes feels towards Watson as he is about to leave 221 B Baker Street and take up residence with Mary Morston. On many occasions, he’s trying to lure Watson back, to get him to accompany him on his adventures once more, and a couple of times he’s even trying to split Watson & Mary up. I enjoyed watching this relationship, the easy banter, and the sense of humour between them.

Irene Adler, is an attractive rogue woman, imbued with a sensuality and motives not fully explained. Again the relationship between Holmes and her is beautifully shown, that of equals once again, matching their wits against each other. And Blackwood proves a worthy adversary, testing the combined skills of the three individuals mentioned above.


The action is of course, set in 19th century London, which resembles more Dharavi than the largely pristine city we know today. It is grainy, smelly, crowded and filthy. There is something about the dark underside of a city that seems to fascinate Guy Ritchie, as all his movies seem to be set in such locales. The performances were really good, very quirky, very apt, Robert Downey Jr, an actor I’d kind of given up on, delivering a very interesting take on the most famous detective of all time.


Its dark, even brutal at times. But mesmerizing. Its an interesting point of debate whether remakes should stay largely true to the original (Sabrina, The In-laws) or take just the broad outline and reinterpret them (Don, Sherlock Holmes). I love the fact that, as in life, there is no one true answer. There is a sequel built into the plot and for me, it cant quite come fast enough.