Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

2011 Directed by Guy Ritchie

The game is afoot.

There is a new criminal mastermind at large (Professor Moriarty) and not only is he Holmes’ intellectual equal, but his capacity for evil and lack of conscience may give him an advantage over the detective.

Robert Downey Jr. Jude Law Noomi Rapace Rachel McAdams Jared Harris Stephen Fry Paul Anderson Kelly Reilly Geraldine James Eddie Marsan William Houston Wolf Kahler Iain Mitchell Jack Laskey Patricia Slater Karima McAdams Richard Cunningham Marcus Shakesheff Mark Sheals George Taylor Michael Webber Mike Grady Alexandre Carril Victor Carril Thorston Manderlay Affif Ben Badra Daniel Naprous Lancelot Weaver Vladimir Furdik Show All…

Alternative Titles

Sherlock Holmes 2, Sherlock Holmes : Le Jeu des ombres, Sherlock Holmes։ A Game of Shadows, Sherlock Holmes 2: O Jogo de Sombras

adventure crime mystery action

129 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by sree ★★★

what is it with guy ritchie and homoerotic subtext
Review by josh lewis ★★★★ 4

gimmicky as it can sometimes be i've always found the vision here of holmes as action deconstructionist strangely vivid and compelling if not faithful. it's broadly but quite convincingly woven into the psychology, relationships, politics and of course mechanized digital style. ritchie exuberantly visualizing the constantly shifting sea of layers and machinations with manic kineticism and an industrial aesthetic with the occasional steampunk gesture—this one in particular is a practically lyrical frenzy of small, moving parts where the literal gears of power and history are a collection of man-made tools and motions that contribute to a larger tapestry of huge, almost dreamlike destruction. features some of my favourite POV and slomo camerawork in a major studio movie honestly. anyway as with the other late-ritchie film hardly anybody talked about (Man From U.N.C.L.E.) this is surprisingly great/fun/stylish.
Review by Silent J ★★★½ 36

I think BBC's Sherlock has spoiled me...

I used to love the Hollywood Sherlock Holmes films. Now, while still entertaining, they are like a handjob compared to BBC Sherlock. I like it, but you know what I really want. It's not as good as the real deal, Mr. Hollyfield.
Maybe I should say it like this...
Robert Downey Jr. is great as Sherlock.
Benedict Cumberbatch on the other hand, phenomenal and I can't see anyone else in the role.
Jude Law is great as John Watson.
Martin Freeman is excellent.
Irene Adler in this film is forgettable (seriously, no joke, I completely forgot Adler was in these).
Irene Adler on Sherlock is badass, and actually much hotter if you ask…
Review by al paciknows ★★½ 8

idk why hollywood thinks they can "my dear friend" me into believing these bitches arent gay like. no. shut up.
Review by liam f ★★★★ 2

can't believe I wasted my gay pun on the review for the first one when this film is so much gayer in every single way
Review by ellie ✨ ★★★★½

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

rachel mcadams gets killed off before the opening title and she's still the fourth-billed cast member on imdb......her power.....her influence.......
Review by Sam Thompson ★★★ 2

Flawed but always good fun.
The first is better.
Now just make the third one already.
Review by höddi ★★★★½ 4

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

Quick note:
An important reason why Sherlock wins the "game" is that he, unlike Moriarty, gives a crucial importance to the pawns. Mary and Simza are both characters that seemingly pose little to no threat to Moriarty's grander scheme, yet it's only through their efforts (Mary deciphering Moriarty's code, Simza stopping Rene) that Sherlock gains the upper hand before making his final move... and so the pawns are ultimately the ones that bring down Moriarty's/The King's operation.
Moriarty's failure is, as highlighted by Sherlock during their first encounter, his "acute narcissism and complete lack of empathy".
Every piece is important, and if you forget that for a second, you may as well surrender.
Really, I could ramble on about this…
Review by JamieBeltman ★★★ 2

Really stupid but I actually kinda like it lol???
Review by Lochlan Ashton ★★★½ 2

The forest scene with the ending really makes this film.
I love Guy Ritchie but this is not my favourite work by him. I love how he takes you down these twists and turns no matter what’s going on. I don’t know how he came up with the forest scene, it’s just beautiful.
The theme song to the Sherlock films could easily be one of my all time favourites.
Review by DirkH ★★★★

I'm not ashamed to admit that I really liked this sequel. Again, the attention to period-detail is fantastic and Downey Jr. is in top form. The plot is a bit convoluted at points, but who cares? It's fun!
Review by ☆ Sophie ☆ ★★★ 4

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

2011 Films Ranked 👍🏼
This film is an excellent example of style over substance as there are certain weak parts and visible stronger bits. Jude Law and Robert Downey Jr. both are great as Watson and Holmes, as well as Stephen Fry, as he is a very funny Microsoft. But then, there are some mistakes in casting. Noomi Rapace is the biggest blunder. She is weak, pale, blunt, shallow, and gray. I would have liked to see more Rachel McAdams as Irene Adler as she is a more interesting character.
Hans Zimmer returns to compose some new themes for Game of Shadows. The entire train scene is probably the best part of the movie. In addition, the slow-motion shots are…

Recent reviews

Review by Orcs ★★★

The new supporting actress is too lacking in charm (how can there be such a well-behaved and quiet gypsy girl), coupled with the lack of the wonderful action scenes in the first movie, the whole rhythm lacks adjustment. But the adaptations of these last two scenes are better than the original and Sherlock in my opinion.
Review by knobb ★½

the first sherlock holmes is my favourite guy ritchie film, this is my least favourite. its fun until around just past the half way point, where i started to get bored. for some reason this film feels very long. the forest scene is the most zach synder thing i've ever seen, if only angelic music played over it
Review by Trevor Church ★★★★

dumb fun, fun dumb
Review by ArchStanton93 ★½

Needed something on while I attempted to do laundry in my current state, so I put this dud on.
Oof.
I remember really liking this one in the theaters; I must admit, Bobby DJ as Sherlock fucking works for me, and I remember these films being a ton of fun. Well one of them is anyway, and it ain’t this one. Turns out most of the clever stuff I remembered happened in the first one; Game of Shadows is one of the most egregiously bloated and uneven sequels I’ve ever seen; literally nothing here stands out from the first movie, and this thing draaaaaaagsss... my god it’s been a while since I’ve been this bored with a movie, and while…
Review by Joe Frank ★★★★

An improvement on the first one in every way. Some truly breathtaking moments in this movie. Definitely not a masterpiece but it’s a ton of fun.
Review by Ben M. Davies ★★★½

Going back and rewatching this, I remember that it just wasn't as good as the first one for a few reasons, but still, a really fun and silly film from Guy Ritchie is always nice to see in so many ways. The previous Sherlock Holmes film he did shooted Ritchie back into a position where a lot of people loved him, he was obviously loved for his early work on Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch (the latter of which I've seen and really need to rewatch), but ends up going to a place where a few of his films weren't as well received and didn't do all that well outside of the people who were going to…
Review by Shannon ★★★

Much better, still dicky as though. RDJ and Jude Law's chemistry is great
Review by Billy ★★★

Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows (4k)
Dir. Guy Ritchie
3/5
Not sure what it is about this one. The action scenes are solid. RDJ is still great as Sherlock. Just I didn't like this sequel as much as the first one. Just something seemed to be missing. I havent put my finger on it yet. I'm leaning towards that I didn't like Moriarty. But he wasn't bad enough to make the movie not as enjoyable so I still don't know. Just one of those sequels that weren't as good as the first.
Review by Nolano Crossio ★★★★½

I’m sorry. I have to crack just one more torture set to music joke:
Martin Vanger and Mr. Blonde are shaking their heads at Moriarty. “Bah, who’s this asshole? Everyone knows torture to opera is boring as fuck. Play some bangers like 70’s classic rock and the greatest hits of Enya.”

This movie never gets old.
Review by Jackie Frye ★★★½

I would argue these movies are Hans Zimmer's best work.
Review by NATHAN SILVA

A direção bem casada do Guy Richie não salva o roteiro precário
Review by LGardner ★★

After the teasing and buildup that appeared in Sherlock Holmes, I was really looking forward to seeing how Ritchie's Moriarty would hold up. I have to admit that despite having the same style and energy that the predecessor had, this film didn't hold up nearly as well and left me slightly disappointed. An okay effort but not as strong as the first film.