Again, I feel entitled to more than 25 words
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows in 25 words or less:
An adaptation of Holmes into the buddy-action-flick genre. Not landmark cinema, but it had clever touches, and by the end I liked it. B.
Addenda:
I agree with others' comments that I would have preferred an earlier airing of the new season of BBC Sherlock to a new Guy Ritchie film. And it's true that I went to see this one more out of a sense of obligation than out of a genuine desire to go. Aaaand it took me a while -- almost all the way to the end -- before I warmed up to this one. There was one moment (ironically, a chase scene, which I usually love) when, like Fajitas, I found myself saying "Oh, Guy Ritchie, will you please stop being so Guy-Ritchie-ish!" But--credit where it's due--Ritchie did, to excellent effect, ultimately pay off the occasionally-annoying stylization of showing every fight twice (first the version in Holmes's head, and then the real-life version). At that moment, I started to feel some real warmth toward the film. By the end, I liked it. I wished the intelligence and affection of the first 4/5 of the movie hadn't been so hidden in bombast and silliness, but in the end, I was able to see that it had been there. Ultimately, the story held together better than it might have. There were a few nice canonical and insider touches. Stephen Fry, Noomi Rapace, and Jared Harris are all well-cast. Jude Law was, again, excellent.
It's no masterpiece, and I (for one) found the film's cutesy humor off-putting and even a bit desperate. (At first, I used the word "jejune," and then I took it out when I realized just how snobby that made me look. And then I put in this parenthetical statement, because some of the humor was jejune, and I am a snob.) But if the previous film was a demonstration of how adaptable Holmes is into the modern steampunk-pulp-action genre, this film does the same for the buddy-action-flick -- and as such, the cheap laughs are a (regrettable, por moi) byproduct. The great thing about Holmes is that -- through all the putty-pulling of adaptation -- it still holds on to its Holmes-ness. Which is wonderful.
An adaptation of Holmes into the buddy-action-flick genre. Not landmark cinema, but it had clever touches, and by the end I liked it. B.
Addenda:
I agree with others' comments that I would have preferred an earlier airing of the new season of BBC Sherlock to a new Guy Ritchie film. And it's true that I went to see this one more out of a sense of obligation than out of a genuine desire to go. Aaaand it took me a while -- almost all the way to the end -- before I warmed up to this one. There was one moment (ironically, a chase scene, which I usually love) when, like Fajitas, I found myself saying "Oh, Guy Ritchie, will you please stop being so Guy-Ritchie-ish!" But--credit where it's due--Ritchie did, to excellent effect, ultimately pay off the occasionally-annoying stylization of showing every fight twice (first the version in Holmes's head, and then the real-life version). At that moment, I started to feel some real warmth toward the film. By the end, I liked it. I wished the intelligence and affection of the first 4/5 of the movie hadn't been so hidden in bombast and silliness, but in the end, I was able to see that it had been there. Ultimately, the story held together better than it might have. There were a few nice canonical and insider touches. Stephen Fry, Noomi Rapace, and Jared Harris are all well-cast. Jude Law was, again, excellent.
It's no masterpiece, and I (for one) found the film's cutesy humor off-putting and even a bit desperate. (At first, I used the word "jejune," and then I took it out when I realized just how snobby that made me look. And then I put in this parenthetical statement, because some of the humor was jejune, and I am a snob.) But if the previous film was a demonstration of how adaptable Holmes is into the modern steampunk-pulp-action genre, this film does the same for the buddy-action-flick -- and as such, the cheap laughs are a (regrettable, por moi) byproduct. The great thing about Holmes is that -- through all the putty-pulling of adaptation -- it still holds on to its Holmes-ness. Which is wonderful.