Big Screen Peter: Sherlock Holmes — A Game of Shadows

The first iteration of Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes franchise was a jolt of promise. It did much to wrest the stuffy personification that had built up around the first rate intellectual. In doing so, some of the chaos and singularity of the Holmes character was restored.

Laudable and necessary as it was, the film over corrected toward brawn and failed to convey much in way of intellect. Though not perfect, it showed the potential in the franchise. No existing literary or cinematic protagonist offers quite as much as a complete Sherlock Holmes. He’s witty, physical, and hyper-intelligent. A super-hero without the gadgets; a pugilistic Popeye with brains.

“Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows” realizes that potential. It’s big and brash, but whimsical and intelligent just the same.

A Game of Shadows is set in 1891, just one year after the first movie ends (a knowledge of which isn’t necessary for enjoyment or comprehension). Watson, engaged and soon to be wed, hasn’t kept in close contact with his colleague Holmes, choosing instead to enjoy a sentient life away from Baker Street. In the interim, Holmes has lost himself in his pursuit of the elusive Moriarty.

Watson finds Holmes obsessing over a series of seemingly unconnected crimes stretching across the continent of Europe. The crimes, however, are a coordinated attempt by the evil professor to sow havoc across the continent of Europe. The high-stakes geo-political scheming sends Holmes and a reluctant Watson to the continent in search of the key to the great puzzle.

While the scale and setting are certainly a boon, the movie’s greatest asset is the much stronger writing. What Homes and Watson uncover, with help from sympathetic gypsies and whilst trekking across multiple countries, is both familiar and still paradoxically staggering in its audacity. The scope of Moriarty’s evil genius is set in stark contrast to the realities of the coming epoch. It’s a sly nod to the dirtiest elephant in the room: for every triumph sown, evil blooms anew. Humanity is forever perched atop the Reichenbach.

That dark overtone separates A Game of Shadows from both the previous Holmes film and other action movies. It’s a testament to writers able to juggle a cautionary tale raft with allusions to the coming destruction of the 20th century without sacrificing any of the lighthearted humor or breathtaking action sequences.

It’s this narrative melding that makes A Game of Shadows everything big action movies should be. It’s clever, but never highbrow. It’s moralizing without succumbing to bluster. It’s fun without inanity. It’s packed to the brim with exciting explosions and fights, but they are never anything but believable exercises. In short, A Game of Shadows is a well plotted and evenly measured effort. A perfect blend for the Holiday season.

• Sherlock Holmes — A Game of Shadows is playing at the Carmike 14, the Malco Cinema 16 in Fort Smith, and the Malco Van Buren Cinema. Link here for time and ticket info.

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