During the first instalment of Sherlock Holmes two years ago, a disgruntled Inspector Lestrade remarked to a dishevelled Robert Downey Jr, “in another life, Mr Holmes, you would have made an excellent criminal”. Now there are two things of note about this statement: one is Holmes’s witty retort “yes, and you an excellent policeman”, but second is the incredibly esoteric allusion to a character that was created by the author of the Sherlock Holmes series, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, as an antagonist so powerful he was intended as a narrative device to kill off Sherlock Holmes definitively. Holmes’s equal in every sense, he is as brilliant, astute and cunning as his pipe-smoking rival. Professor James Moriarty is the criminal that Holmes would have been in another life and it is the terrifying reality that this villain, the ultimate nemesis, is the antagonist of director Guy Ritchie’s latest release, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
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Ritchie’s highly stylized adaptation of Conan Doyle’s series takes us on a deliciously grungy romp through late 19th century Europe as anarchist bombings inflame strained relations between France and Germany, threatening to start World War One a few decades early. However, it soon becomes apparent to Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) that it is not political radicals behind the attacks, but Moriarty (Jared Harris), the “Napoleon of Crime” directing a dastardly scheme for world domination. After some persuasion involving cross-dressing, machine guns and his new bride thrown unceremoniously from a moving steam train into a river fifty feet below, an enraged Watson (Jude Law) joins the fight with the help of French gypsy Simza (Noomi Rapace) to thwart his despicable intentions. An unexpected appearance from Stephen Fry (unexpected in many senses, a great deal of him ‘appears’) as Sherlock’s equally eccentric older brother adds some bizarre fun; Fry’s mannerisms are spot on from sardonic one-liners to inscrutably cartoonish expressions capturing the Holmes family spirit perfectly.
However, the spirit of Moriarty as Holmes’ dangerous doppelganger is sadly lacking. Jared Harris does his best but with his bushy beard, academic appearance and nasal delivery he is unconvincing as a threat to Robert Downey Jr’s rugged stubble, athletic physique and resonating intonation. His poor casting distracts from what should have been a tense and gripping battle between two powers – Lord Blackwood (Mark Strong) in the previous film had far more malignant menace. The plot is often patchy, particularly with regards to Rachel McAdams’s character Irene Adler who might as well have flounced across screen doing nothing more than striking statuesque poses in her bustle and lipstick; she was little more than a model of sumptuous Victorian costume. Irene adds nothing as a narrative device, unnecessarily killed off in the first fifteen minutes to be replaced by feisty gypsy Simza (because heaven forbid there be TWO strong female heroines in a Hollywood Blockbuster).
Saying that, many of the major flaws in storyline are more than made up for by stunning cinematography. Zero gravity, hyper-reality scenes shot in ‘bullet time’ are absolutely breathtaking adding a new dimension to action sequence explosions. These are not just visual flourishes, but clever insights into the sparking synapses of Sherlock’s brain as he assesses a situation and plots in microscopic detail his counteraction. Likewise, Hans Zimmer has scored some incredible music over the years but excels himself here. His soundtrack compliments Ritchie’s reinvention of Holmes perfectly with its playful inversion of the ‘Oranges and Lemons’ nursery rhyme and rousing instrumentation to add atmosphere at key moments. It’s tempting to sit through to the end of the credits just to soak up its brilliance.
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows is every bit as gripping as its prequel, an explosion of anarchy, Victorian opulence and sharp-tongued humour. In another life Mr Holmes may indeed have been an excellent criminal, but in this one he is the perfect hero: powerful, likeable and flawed – an elementary combination that makes for a captivating production.