New Holmes movie features 1800s action for today's audience
By Matt Grantz, Assistant Editor
January 18, 2012
.jpg) “Sherlock Holmes” is an enduring series of stories penned by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in the late 1800s and early 1900s. This series has been adapted to the big screen dozens of times, including the latest film: “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.”
This latest film is a sequel to 2009’s “Sherlock Holmes.” The new Holmes’ movie subtitled “A Game of Shadows” tells the story of Sherlock Holmes’ (Robert Downey, Jr.) final battle with his arch nemesis, Professor James Moriarty (Jared Harris).
The film opens with Irene Adler (Rachel McAdams) preparing to deliver a package and Holmes intercepting her with a warning. Adler’s bodyguards violently beat Holmes, and Adler then delivers her package and the recipient discovers that the package is a bomb. Fortuitously, Holmes shows up and defuses the bomb, but the recipient is killed after exiting the building.
Later, Adler meets with Moriarty, on whose behalf she had delivered the bomb. In order to eliminate witnesses Moriarty kills  Adler. Moriarty then moves to harm Holmes by attacking Holmes’s best friend and loyal ally John Watson (Jude Law) while Watson is on honeymoon. Fortunately, Holmes is able to save Watson, though a big battle does occur. Afterwards, Watson joins Holmes on a trip to Europe in order to foil Moriarty’s master plan.
“A Game of Shadows” is a very well produced film. The special effects are excellent featuring amazing action scenes. Additionally, the 19th century backdrop is quite nice and, while not entirely accurate, also quite believable. Furthermore, the plot, with very few slow spots, is interesting keeping viewers interested for the full two hours of the movie.
Generally, I dislike watching movies based on books I have read, but “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows” proved to be an exception. I truly enjoyed watching this film and would certainly recommend it.
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