Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (Thursday, December 22, 2011)(121)

Much like its steam-punk aesthetic, Sherlock Holmes 2 spends a lot of time spinning its wheels making a simple story really, really complicated, in the end being effective, but much more complicated than is necessary. This is an action movie, not a mystery. It has much more in common with Batman or James Bond (in Victorian machines) than it does with Basil Rathbone or Jeremy Brett.

The story here is much too multi-layered and unnecessarily veiled to get into in detail here, but generally is seems that Holmes and boyfriend Watson are chasing Moriarty around Europe for no reason, until it becomes clear that Moriarty wants to start World War I 25 years early. There are lots of fun set-ups with classic film chestnuts (formal-dress balls, trains, ships in shipyards, waterfalls, chases through forests) that all lead to an elaborate, clever finale involving a literal and meta chess game.

It's filled with typical Guy Ritchie jump cuts and crash zooms, this time spiced up with lots of fun slow-mo affectations. There's also lots of fun homoeroticism and opium jokes, played for laughs rather than sadness or love (which is rather disappointing... though I totally understand that gayness isn't half as entertaining as fake gayness).

This is a big movie with a lot of big action scenes. It's very light on the brain and heavy on special effects. All in all a fun ride, but rather shallow ... exactly as a holiday blockbuster should be!

Stars: 2.5 of 4