guy ritchie has always been a filmmaker focused on details -- the little machinations that contribute to something larger -- & his sherlock holmes adaptations exemplify this more than ever. in holmes' mind ritchie finds a constantly shifting sea of layers & deconstructions, the gimmicky slo-mo fight deconstructions being the most obvious example, but they can be found throughout as ritchie's sherlock uses the same deconstructive mentality on the mysteries he solves, the disguises he wears & even the relationships he has with the people around him. to him, all simply larger wholes made up of seemingly insignificant details he just needs to wrap his head around... of course all those details always proving themselves to be anything but.

i adore Game Of…

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…

"Are you sure you want to play this game?"

Mysterious bombings and looming bloodshed amongst the European nations ignite Holmes and Watson's treacherous transnational adventure in Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, a deadly affair that sees the esteemed duo of crime-solving colleagues accompanied by unlikely comrades as they traverse the anarchist cellars of gaslit Paris, munitions factories of industrial Germany, and elite political summits of the idyllic Swiss Alps. Their pursuit of the truth and the nefarious Professor Moriarty will test their limits as they attempt to prevent an unfathomable conflict from becoming a catastrophic reality. Can the legendary private detective and his allies thwart an imminent world war?

Though considerably faster and looser than the prior chapter with…

This is a fine follow-up to the first film, with a much better baddie to fight against. I suppose jumping right to Moriarty by the second film feels like a bad move to some, but these two films really don't abide by cannon or feel confined by it.

So many of the actual stories are in both films, through references and Easter eggs, that it feels like there were many previous adventures that we didn't see. There was no origin story in these films - we jumped right in the middle of things. Refreshing considering how many things have been adapted, rebooted, and given new origins again, just because.

Anyway, this does the formula set in the first film just…