Sherlock Holmes 2 : A Game of Shadows (2011)

Sherlock Holmes 2 : A Game of Shadows draws a surprising amount of it's materiel from the original novels, and with that it scores a big thumbs up from me. The story surpasses the original, with a trickier mystery for the dynamic duo to solve; Holmes' arch rival Professor James Moriarty, who was the secret mastermind behind the crime in the first movie, crops up during a time of unrest between major European superpowers and begins a sinister plot that seems to threaten tehe very balance of power in Europe. The movie shows off better writing all around with a mystery that still isn't too deep, but is a grand improvement upon the original's and will throw some for a loop. Acting from the supporting cast has vastly improved, and not only becuase they drummed out Amy Adams in the first ten minutes, but also characters like the gypsy women Madam Sizma Heron played by Noomi Rapace and Holmes' brother played by Stephen Fry . The two leads remain perfect examples for any actor's trying to portray Holmes and Watson and Jarred Harris' Moriarty is definitely the smart sleek intellectual that the original film was crying out for.  Actual critics will tell you it's average, but everyone will enjoy it as more than that. Its twisting, suspenseful, and truly hard to follow as any Holmes story should be.


 No real complaints here. B+