A Game of Shadows brings panto to action cinema

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

It's the sequel to British director Guy Ritchie's 2009 Sherlock Holmes. Ritchie surprised many and scandalised others by dropping the Victorian pipe-smoking super-sleuth into his slow-motion, bullet-ridden gangster film aesthetic, with a dash of 'bromance' thrown in. The sequel is more of the same.

Robert Downey Jr as Holmes and his side kick Jude Law as Watson are joined by Rachel McAdams (Midnight in Paris) as the slinky Irene Adler, Jared Harris (Mad Men's Lane Prince) as Moriarty, Stephen Fry as Holmes's older brother, and Noomi Rapace (from the Swedish language version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) as a gypsy fortune teller.

When Holmes discovers a dastardly plot by his nemesis Moriaty to spark a war in Europe, a frantic cross-continental chase ensues, complete with a series of train-leaping, bullet-dodging and bloody escapades along the way.

WHAT THE CRITICS LIKE

This vigorously silly romp shares almost nothing with the writings of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, says Robbie Collin in The Daily Telegraph. "But what it lacks in authenticity, it makes up for in sheer swashbuckling brio." Add in some cross-dressing and it's the closest "action cinema has ever come to pantomime – and that's meant as a sincere compliment".  

If you need an antidote to the bloat and lethargy of Christmas, you could do worse than check out this rousing bit of slash-fiction, says Xan Brooks in The Guardian. This "valentine to the public-school buccaneer" owes more to Flashman and James Bond than Conan Doyle, but provides Ritchie with a licence to "run wild with Gypsies, trade punches with cossacks, or just generally arse about in expensive hotels".

The film assures us that escapism is good and mischief must be celebrated, adds Brooks. "Holmes and Watson are happy and their escapades play out with such grace and brio that the fun is infectious."

Stephen Parkinson on Wired.co.uk concludes: "Given the awards-baiting fare normally available at this time of year, it's the best on offer for a mass outing to the cinema, and worth the trip."

WHAT THEY DON'T LIKE

It lacks spontaneity, says Tom Huddleston in Time Out. While the first film seemed genuinely sprightly and off-the-cuff, "every thunderous, whizz-bang, CG-fuelled action scene in the sequel feels inevitable".
 
This movie is designed for a cinema public raised on video games, slo-mo violence and the genial narcissism of the modern star, says Anthony Quinn in The Independent. Ritchie doesn't seem to "get" women as characters, dispatching Rachel McAdam's Irene Adler and Watson's bride (Kelly Reilly) in quick succession. As for Noomi Rapace, "she attaches herself to the plot halfway through. I have no idea what she is meant to be doing, and from the look of it nor has she."
 
This film needs large amounts of Ritalin to calm it down, says Kate Muir in The Times. Ritchie brought us a hyperkinetic Sherlock in 2009, but has gone into overdrive this time around. "The result is a bloated storyline that is far from elementary." The dialogue is "irritatingly modern" and forensic detective work and Victorian values are "sacrificed for the constant throb of action". ·