Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

The first thing I would like to talk about are the trailers before the movie.

The Grey:
I think they could have come up with a better title for the movie, but over all it looks pretty cool. Liam Neeson is awesome as always. It's about a group of men stranded in the winter wilderness after a plane crash and they're trying to get home. I know we've seen this done a thousand times but it looks pretty cool anyway.

Hunger Games:
I haven't read the books but the trailer to the movie is making me want to do so. It's beautifully done and looks like it can be very, very good. I am looking forward to seeing this movie.

Battleship:
I have to say when I first saw this movie poster I thought it was something based on the board game, but I was totally wrong. There's an alien invasion and some more Liam Neeson. It looks really good.

Dark Knight Rises:
This is one I am most definitely looking forward to. Anne Hatthaway as Cat Woman is looking very promising. There's a villain that I don't recognize but then I am not that well versed in the Batman universe. I only know from the movies, the TV shows and the cartoons, and from what my brother has told me about the comic books. Gary Oldman is the best Commissioner Gordon ever, that's all there is to that. And I love Michael Caine as Alfred. I will be seeing this one when it is released, that's for sure. The entire theater applauded this trailer.

SPOILERS AHEAD! I say that only because there are details that I will reveal that might not be known already. I don't plan to go into great detail about the storyline because there is so much involved, but I do want to talk about the movie.

First off, my love for Hans Zimmer only grows more with each movie score of his I hear. Especially these movies. He reaches into his soul and pulls out wonderfulness. You feel like you're actually listening to Victorian era music. There's some English with a touch of Irish. The suspenseful tones make you bite your nails and the soft melodies make you cry your eyes out. Even in a movie like this one, Hans uses every instrument at his disposal to reach into your chest and just rip your heart right out with his bare hands. I love him more than I love John Williams and for those who know me, that's saying a LOT.

Guy Ritchie is a great director. He makes wonderful use of the slow motion. While there is quite a lot of it in this movie, none of it is unwarranted. It's done beautifully and just adds to the story.

Robert was once again brilliant as Sherlock Holmes. They did a very good job of making Holmes seem completely insane and obsessed with Moriarty, which anyone who has read the books and stories knows he was. He does seem a bit psychotic but it is truly fitting for Holmes, based on what I've read from the books. I was also very impressed with Robert's pronunciation of the German that Holmes speaks at one point. Knowing that Robert speaks no foreign languages and learns all his lines phonetically, and having experience with German being a rather interesting language, I give him kudos for that.

Jude was hilariously awesome as Watson. Getting completely hammered at his stag party, stumbling about and giggling at nothing. There were a lot of looks shared between Holmes and Watson that were wonderful and funny and just completely the kind of looks two very dear friends would share. And it was evident that it was one of those times when the lonely friend realized the friend about to get married was moving on and having another life that might not include him. But there were so many scenes when it was very obvious exactly how much Holmes means to Watson.

The performance I was looking forward to the most, however, was that of the magnificent Stephen Fry. Choosing him as Mycroft Holmes couldn't have been a more brilliant decision. Although he was quite a bit more active than Mycroft was in the books, he did a beautiful job. And the scene in which he spends the entire time naked was both hilarious and fantastic. Conveniently placed books and well chosen camera angles kept too much from being revealed but it was great all the same. And Kelly Reilly handling the reactions to seeing Mycroft naked was very funny and very well done.

I do believe that there is no actor currently living that could have played Professor James Moriarty better than Jared Harris. Everything I have seen him in he's been absolutely evil to the core and he is so very good and being so very bad. I was a bit surprised to find out that he can sing beautifully. He made me shiver with every look. He played a man as brilliant as Holmes and exponentially more diabolical. I believe that Moriarty is the embodiment of what Holmes could have become if he'd chosen a life of crime rather than a life of crime fighting.

The ending of the movie was very well done. It is almost exactly as it was described in the one story that does involve Moriarty written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Even taking place at the correct waterfall. The main difference is that Watson arrives to find only a note from Holmes, rather than seeing what happens with both Holmes and Moriarty. You are left to wonder if both of them perished or if perhaps there was some way in which one of them survived. I was very pleased to find that they had included that bit of the story in the movies.

(added 533pm) I feel completely horrible because I realized this morning that I forgot to talk about Noomi Rapace. She did a wonderful job, honestly. She was perfect for Madame Simza Heron. All of the action scenes were very well done and the emotional moments were heart breaking. She's a beautiful woman and a talented actress and I feel bad for not remembering, at 330am, to comment on her performance. These movies have been maid more closely to the stories in the books than any other Sherlock Holmes movie I have ever seen. The relationship between Holmes and Watson is definitely much more partner than detective and side kick. Holmes wasn't nearly as calm and dignified as he's been made out to be in the past. Watson was a lot more willing to call Holmes on his crap than I've seen in other embodiments of these two timeless characters. Robert and Jude have brought them as close to Conan Doyle's vision as humanly possibly without Sir Arthur here to tell us exactly what he imagined when he wrote the stories.

You should most definitely go see this movie. Everyone should. And I have to agree with the critics, it is better than the first one. The general story itself is better played out and it's just an over all well done movie. I don't know how else to put it. Go see the movie, you won't regret it, I promise.