PCP on DVD - Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

Robert Downey Jr. & Jude Law made their return in this sequel to Sherlock Holmes, this time taking on Holmes' most famous nemesis from the books, Professor Moriarty.  Along with RDJ & Law, director Guy Ritchie also returned to helm the film, & actresses Rachel McAdams & Kelly Reilly also reprised their roles.  Did it live up to the original (reviewed in this post here)?  Read on and see!

Sherlock Holmes:  A Game of Shadows - 2011, rated PG-13.  My rating:  8 out of 10.

I really loved the original Sherlock Holmes from 2009.  I liked RDJ's swagger in the character a ton.  This sequel delivers more of the same, as well as adds in Jared Harris as the evil villain Professor Moriarty.  Harris is outstanding as a villain, and if you need more proof of that than this film, go watch the first and fourth seasons of Fringe.  Also new to the cast is Noomi Rapace, the original Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, making her English language debut.  She cleans up nicely as a Gypsy here in this film.

The action sequences are well done and entertaining, but there is a bit too much reliance on the slow-motion "Holmes vision" that was used in the first film.  It pops up often enough that it starts to get a little bit annoying.  There was also less complications to the mystery this time compared to the first film, it was actually a bit easier to figure out just what was going on.  The nice thing is though that the film was still a very enjoyable ride, and it was fun to laugh at RDJ in some of the crazy costumes Holmes donned as a part of his disguises.  All in all it was an enjoyable sequel.  I'm already looking forward to Sherlock Holmes 3, currently slated for 2014.