Do you remember that boxing scene in the first Sherlock Holmes movie? Where he plans out his moves in his head and the camera speed goes from really fast to really slow a couple times? If you're familiar with that clip, you've already seen half of Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. The repeated use of this effect becomes a gimmick within the first thirty minutes of the movie. Every other scene is filled with dark, fast, and confusing clips. I have to admit, the boxing scene in the first movie was pretty cool. I hadn't really seen anything like it before. But now it seems like they're only using it as an excuse to show every fight scene twice.
Trailers are very important and I'm not talking about those motor homes. A movie trailer has to make someone want to pay to see it without giving away all of the exciting parts. It's a very delicate thing that can make or break a movie. With this one, I felt like I already knew the secrets about every situation they were in. 'There's a guy in the rafters. It's Sherlock cross-dressing. Watson has to make the shot count. They're going to run through the woods.' The trailer gave away all of the little mysteries in a mystery movie.
Being based on a book series, the story was well-done. I must admit that I have not read all of the Sherlock stories by Arthur Conan Doyle so I cannot attest to the movie's faithfulness. But if the story was modified (which I'm sure it was) they did a fairly good job of making it compelling and interesting to the audience.
This storyline takes place in 1891. Why do they all have perfect teeth? White as a pearl and straight as a ruler. They're English for godsakes! He's not supposed to have Robert Downey Jr.'s celebrity teeth! It was very distracting.
In some cases, people say 'read the book before you see the movie.' In this situation, just read the book. Don't bother with the movie.
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