Guy Ritchie's previous effort with Sherlock was fun in its way, a decent turn by the leads and some impressive special effects got it through Ritchie's heavy handed approach to direction.
The sequel benefits from a slicker storyline, more laughs, and a firmer partnership between Law and Downey Jr. It does still suffer from Ritchie's approach to direction, laying on the slow-motion incredibly thick.
In the first film it was impressive, in this film it becomes annoying. The two hour time-frame could have shaved 15 minutes simply by not having every action scene done in slow-motion.
The story itself follows Sherlock's obsession with Moriarty, played with sinister charisma by Jared Harris, the man controlling Sherlock's lady love, Irene Adler (Rachel McAdams).
This time the obsession leads Sherlock to ruin Watson's stag party by taking him to a place where a gypsy fortune teller (played by Noomi Rapace, the original Girl With The Dragon Tattoo) is the recipient of a letter Holmes had stolen from Adler at the beginning of the film.
The night ends in a battle with an assassin, a very drunk and almost broke Watson, the gypsy disappearing, and Holmes and Watson arriving at the doctors wedding a little worse for wear.
The film continues at this pace, hijacking Watson's honeymoon (to save his life) on a moving train, a gypsy party and rescue mission, culiminating in a final stand-off between Holmes and Moriarty where you realise quite how brilliant the two men are and are left wondering what exactly happened?
I love the relationship between Law and Downey Jr, Watson and Holmes are the original buddy movie duo, one very much put-upon while the other is gun-ho and erratic. Jude Law excels in these films, and more often than not it is his antics that make me laugh out loud. Downey Jr is brilliant as the mystifying Sherlock Holmes, however I have to say Benedict Cumberbatch is my favourite of the two most recent versions.
Noomi Rapace was a great addition to the cast, not nearly so annoying as McAdams' Adler, and the whole gypsy aspect provided a great change from grimy London whilst also encouraging more laughter with the sight of Sherlock Holmes on a pony (or donkey, couldn't quite work it out).
The Holmes and Moriarty relationship in this movie could well have been incredibly cheesey, however the actors do not let it become so and are on a par with Cumberbatch and Andrew Scott of the BBC version. It is great to see them matched in age and acting ability, neither are young men but then with that comes experience, wisdom, and belief that it would take a slightly psychotic professor many years to build up the means and contacts to try to start a war simply to make money from selling weapons.
I have not read the books so cannot comment on accuracy of story or character, I can say that I very much enjoyed the film and the reason for it not being 4 Stars is my dislike of Ritchie's over-use of slow-motion.
It is funny, exciting, well-acted and an enjoyable couple of hours. Though you're not left hanging on the edge of your seat, unlike the BBC version, the ending has a suitable cliffhanger to ensure Ritchie gets one last crack at the Holmes/Watson dynamic.
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