Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows Review

Sorry for the lack of posts the last couple of days everyone, due to a mixture of busyness and laziness (on my part) we haven't done anything, but we have returned. And today I shall be providing you with my thoughts and opinions on Guy Ritchie's second Sherlock Holmes film titled 'Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows'.

I remember seeing the first one back in the Christmas Period of 2009 and I absolutely loved it, having already a great admiration for Robert Downey Jr it only grew with his role as the titular character. Then given the brilliant partnership of himself and Jude Law as the brilliant Dr. Watson the film was just meant to be a success.

So going into the second film my hopes were high seeing as I am a big fan of Robert Downey Jr. and the first film. I knew I wouldn't be disappointed due to the reviews I have read stating it is better than the last film in every aspect and I completely agree with this statement. The chemistry between the main duo is certainly still there and I found myself laughing all the way throughout the film. The villain of Professor James Moriarty is almost as brilliant as Holmes himself and the twos conflicts throughout the film are filled with tension and brilliant dialogue and acting on both mens parts. Watching the two at one point is like Batman and Joker in the interrogation room in The Dark Knight, but the tables are turned and the two are as brilliant as Christian Bale and Heath Ledger. Noomi Rapace in her first English role is also a nice addition as the French Gypsy who surprisingly is well up for a fight even though she's French, must be the gypsy blood. Noomi's character in my opinion was amazing but the script just didn't give her room to grow as a character throughout the film and left me a bit disappointed that she didn't have much emotional involvement in the film. But a certain event that I shall not say to avoid spoilers really took away any chance she had on becoming involved with Holmes on any emotional level and hindered her as a character but the film still performs spectacularly. Said event was also extremely washed over and left me rather disappointed as I believed it deserved more acknowledgement.

I also found myself extremely wrapped up in the soundtrack of this film, another of Hans Zimmers works as he made the compositions have a very distinct gypsy feel.

Mixing these factors and the amazing sequences of Holmes thought process and urban camoflague this film was far superior to the first and I hope for a third in a couple years as long as a good script is found.
I shall give this film a 4 out of 5

Harry

Top 5 Soundtracks

Since I had the idea in my last post I may as well do it as I'm bored out of my mind right now. So the best 5 soundtracks list is a go!

In Fifth, we have Megamind, the quirky animated comedy from Dreamworks Animation. The soundtrack from this film perfectly reflects the morals of our main character and antagonist of this film, or is he the protagonist? But with songs like Michael Jacksons, 'Bad' and AC/DC's 'Highway To Hell' its easy to see why the soundtrack reflects the characters personality so well. This film also has one of my favourite songs, 'Mr Blue Sky' by Electric Light Orchestra.

Fourth place is Kick-Ass, with a happy uplifting beat and music from the last few decades it gives a feel to the film that many soundtracks just fail to deliver these days. The soundtrack has the exact same feel as the film and the songs really relate to the characters. And its absolutely hilarious seeing a little girl murder to the tune of Banana Splits.

Just in front is Sucker Punch, where music plays a rather integral part to the film and Emily Browning's haunting rendition of 'Sweet Dreams' just achieves a very creepy effect that Zack Snyder was obviously aiming for. The music is also used as a representation to show us whether the characters are in this dream, trance world that they enter or in their dreary existence in this 'hospital' as the tempo is always much faster in these dream worlds and much more slower and a more depressing feel in the real world. Making the soundtrack needed to achieve the greatness of this film.

In second place is Quentin Tarintino's absolute masterpiece 'Pulp Fiction' with a soundtrack that fits the mood of the film just right and with songs that are just so catchy and memorable. Memorable much like every moment of this film.

Then the top of this list, is what I believe to be the most carefully picked soundtrack I have ever come across as the titles of the songs, the names of the bands and the actual lyrics all fit the themes of this film. With bands like 'Echo & The Bunnymen' and 'Tears For Fears' the names fit perfectly with the film and with 'Mad World' making an appearance and every line of it being completely relevant to the entire film as is every other song this soundtrack has hit the nail on the head and deserves the Shhh award for best soundtrack, Donnie Darko, ladies and gents.

As an honourable mention I will also say the work of Hans Zimmer has had a huge contribution to music in film and with an Oscar and God knows how many other awards to his name and 144 soundtracks he has been involved with he is a true legend and if it was up to me, he would have a spot in all 5 positions for his work on films like 'The Dark Knight' (shocker, i know), 'Sherlock Holmes', 'Black Hawk Down' and the many other truly amazing films he has been involved in.

Thanks for reading, tried to make this one a bit shorter, didn't really happen, sorry :P
Harry