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 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 sree ★★★

what is it with guy ritchie and homoerotic subtext
Review by Silent J ★★★½ 34

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 ★★★★ 3

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 JamieBeltman ★★★ 2

Really stupid but I actually kinda like it lol???
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 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 ☆ Sophie ☆ ★★★ 6

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…
Review by Shawn Ko

One can’t deny that Ritchie films are always super fun and incredibly stylish, however, in saying this, I never leave one of them feeling fully satisfied. I found myself dozing off multiple times throughout, as this movie couldn’t keep my attention. So while RDJ and Law have great chemistry and the action scenes were well done, I found everything else to be lackluster and meaningless. Maybe it’s because I’m not familiar with the books and TV series, but the villain and side characters just didn’t work for me. All in all, while Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows does have a few redeeming qualities, it is overall an unsuccessful sequel that I didn’t enjoy like I was hoping too.
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 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!

Recent reviews

Review by Devin Johnson ★★★½

A decent film, nice action scenes, good delivery from a story perspective.
Review by Nowki ★★★½

I think it’s very similar to the first one. To me it’s like boobs and ass, both are great, and what you prefer is only a matter of taste.
I like this one better because of Moriarty, but everything is the same. A good movie overall (good casting, especially Noomi Rapace in this one, good story, sometimes messy, but never mind, etc..) sublimated by Guy Ritchie’s wonderful directing style.
Another 3.5
Review by Bburkart ★★½

Always interesting to watch. I’d like to know more films like this one, fun!
Review by CoramDeo ★★★½

I’m very much of two minds about this one. On the one hand, this improves on the first in several ways, with more interesting and engaging setpieces (especially the forest scene) and much more effective use of slow-mo (again, forest scene). But it really fails to deliver again some of the elements that charmed me about the first.
I like Noomi Rapace, for example, but Rachel McAdams she is not. The disappointment I felt at the quick hand-waving that disposed of McAdams as quickly as possible colored my enjoyment of the first half of the film. It won me over again in the second half, but still. The other returning players are also missing some of their magic. Downey disappears…
Review by CM_AN ★★★★½

Absolutely fantastic movie. One of the few, where the sequel was better than the first film in the series. Iconic snowy fight scene.
Review by ArnauMartin00 ★★★

Robert Downey Jr. se adueña con desenvoltura del personaje de Sherlock Holmes. Una segunda parte igual de chistosa y amena, aunque con sobredosis de acción que empaña la gracia de sus giros.
Review by eliatwonderland ★★★★

Tolle Fortsetztung, die evt etwas zu schnell erklärt ist. Aber auch hier wieder mit sehr viel Liebe zum Detail und spannender Handlung!
Review by pearlescence ★★★★

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

- there's a bit at the end of watson's and mary's wedding where sherlock pulls this absolutely tragic gay look, and bittersweet music is playing, and then watson, with a very tired expression, looks up to see him leave. sherlock sorts out his motorcar and then moran's voice, and then hands, rolling a cigarette, his shirt and coat cuffs immaculate, appear. the whole thing was so reminiscent of maurice (1987), i can't even explain how much i was rooting for that moment to be where sherlock found his scudder. anyways, that's how gay this film is
- jude law's eyes!
- jude law tucked up in the back of the motorcar sleeping... possibly best sequence ever
- the detail is incredible
- the anti-roma slurs were hm. unnecessary
- additionally, i'm v tired of the whole bond girl disposable women thing
- however, sherlock is so unbelievably bi in this and it's a delight!
Review by TeeganK ★★½

Kinda slow but it was decent some funny parts but a little slow
Review by nathanwg ★★★½

Thanks again for the music Hans, that main theme is real nice.
I’ve decided I really like scenes at operas where the composer mixes the music with the themes of the opera and the people are back stage. It’s really cool.
Not a bad moriarty, I couldn’t get past that Mycroft was the master of lake town, more Rachel McAdams please, less weird Holmes disguises please, more cool chess stuff please.
So Moriarty’s plan is... world war one? And then he “gets rich?” I’m sorry moriarty doesn’t work if he’s just in it for money.
Review by ReleaseRanking ★★½

I enjoyed the performances and the sequence in the woods those were awesome the rest ehhh.
Entertainment: 8/10
Pacing: 6/10
Characters: 9/10
Cinematography:9/10
Music: 9/10
Overall:B- or 82/100
Review by Taylor Leverage ★★½

Some exciting elements (which sometimes even manage to become entire scenes) fail to make up for the unwarranted length and a plot that fails to make the viewer feel attached.