I'll keep this review short and sweet, I love Sherlock Holmes, I was brought up with Basil Rathbone, dabbled in Peter Cushing and Jeremy Brett was the perfect embodiment of Conan Doyles creation. But I loved the reimagining in the first Sherlock Holmes film. Jude Law and Robert Downey Jr were a spirited embodiment of the duo and Guy Ritchie brought his tool box of tricks to add an urgency and energy.
Well now Holmes returns in another installment and this time he is taking on his greatest foe, Moriarty. But this film is all over the place. The first hour had me looking at my watch, as incident after setpeice after incident made for a badly paced mess, once Jared Harris as Moriarty makes his presence felt then things pick up and some momentum propells the film forward to its conclusion.
Its not the acting that lets this film down, its the script. For the first half of the film you are forced to endure Holmes as an action man aimlessly trying to work out what Moriarty's plan is. Scenes come and go along with Jackie Chan moments of pugilism and martial arts. Jude Laws Watson fairs better but the wedding subplot is just ill thought out and not as entertaining as the writer thinks.
The last time I came out of a film feeling this underwhelmed was Shanghai Knights. Holmes is intellect is what draws us into his tales be if film or literature. For the first forty five minutes this aspect of the character takes a backseat to the action man figure.
So sadly for me an underwhelming effort where Ritchies love of slow mo actually becomes overused I think as far as reimaginings of the character go I will return to the BBC's Sherlock and await season 2 for a more satisfying and enjoyable less bloated reimagining of the hero.
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