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Alynda Wheat, People: VERY GOOD (cg) "...does anyone have more fun onscreen than Robert Downey Jr.?... makes the most of its leading men and delivers on the action -- even if it's still a bit too reliant on blowing junk up." (Read the full review...) 334 words, 12/15/11 Richard Corliss, Time: MODERATE "The first half-hour plays like a ragged dress rehearsal for the rest of the movie, and replaces the 2009 film's burly energy with frantic incident: bombs, chases and more bombs.... fresh inspiration is sparse here; the sequel is less an extension than a remake." (Read the full review...) 1,055 words, 12/16/11 Christy Lemire, Associated Press: WEAK (cg) "...what seemed clever and novel the first time around now feels stale and tired.... Downey's heart just doesn't seem to be in it.... Law gets little to do beyond functioning as the skeptical straight man... the chemistry just isn't there this time." (Read the full review...) 537 words, 12/15/11 Mara Reinstein, Us Weekly: MODERATE (cg) "Bloated and busy... Sherlock's mental chess game intrigues, as do his disguises... Too bad director Guy Ritchie upends the old-school fun by including a barrage of overly stylized slow-mo fight sequences.... this tired cinematic gimmick needs to go." (Read the full review...) 81 words, 12/15/11 Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: GOOD (cg) "...darkly nimble yet frictionless... Ritchie, if he wanted, could probably make a classic Holmes caper, but instead he treats Holmes' insights as mere froth. It's a bit glib to turn the world's most famous master of deduction into the first victim of ADD." (Read the full review...) 221 words, 12/30/11 Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: MODERATE (cg) "...eliminates smarts in favor of relentless headbanging.... the grace notes are drowned out by Ritchie's incessant need to obliterate thought and feeling." (Read the full review...) 184 words, 12/16/11 Claudia Puig, USA Today: MODERATE (cg) "...a film that is filled with too many deviations and drunken detours. 'Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows' is simultaneously brash and dull -- hardly a combustible combination." (Read the full review...) 496 words, 12/16/11 Roger Ebert, RogerEbert.com: OUTSTANDING (cg) "...set aside your memories of the Conan Doyle stories, save them to savor on a night this winter and enjoy this movie as a high-caliber entertainment." (Read the full review...) 875 words, 12/16/11 Glenn Kenny, MSN Movies: MODERATE (cg) "Never mind that any emotional or psychological engagement has either been skirted or entirely taken for granted... As big, loud moviemaking goes it's not quite as devoid of charm as it could have been, and things being as they are these days, that's saying something." (Read the full review...) 679 words, 12/14/11 James Berardinelli, Reel Views: VERY GOOD (cg) "...a stronger, better realized movie that builds upon the strengths of the original and jettisons some of the weaknesses.... The 2009 movie offered fun with a lot of annoying distractions. This one reduces the irritants while maintaining a high enjoyability quotient." (Read the full review...) 1,079 words, 12/13/11
A.O. Scott, New York Times: FAIR "Can a movie be hyperactive and lazy at the same time? Clever and idiotic? If the director is Guy Ritchie, the questions answer themselves.... There is a plot, but no real intrigue, mystery or suspense, and no inkling of anything at stake beyond a childish and belligerent idea of fun." (Read the full review...) 497 words, 12/16/11 Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: GOOD (NOT GREAT) (cg) "The subversiveness in 'Game of Shadows' is admirable. You just don't need to be Sherlock to detect that it's lacking vision." (Read the full review...) 302 words, 12/16/11 Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: GOOD "...a few shades brighter than its predecessor... the action bits are certainly closer to the full-throttle 'Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels' mode director Guy Ritchie didn't quite capture the first time." (Read the full review...) 764 words, 12/16/11 Kyle Smith, New York Post: WEAK (cg) "...so moron-friendly they should have called it 'Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Checkers.' The skill level in the script is elementary school, my dear Watson." (Read the full review...) 822 words, 12/16/11 Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: POOR (cg) "The cast, which includes Stephen Fry as Mycroft Holmes, is not the problem here. Nor is the plush late 19th-century production design by Sarah Greenwood. Almost everything else is the problem, and a headache, and, finally, a travesty." (Read the full review...) 413 words, 12/16/11 Rafer Guzman, New York Newsday: VERY GOOD (cg) "[Jared] Harris' Moriarty jolts Downey's Sherlock to life for the first time; they're a convincing pair of bristling, not-so-gentlemanly adversaries." (Read the full review...) 512 words, 12/16/11 David Edelstein, New York Magazine: WEAK "...overblown, inelegant... You've been shown in advance how the battles will go and you still can't follow them.... Ritchie goes for maximum clutter. His busy, boisterous frames suggest Richard Lester's 'Three Musketeers' films but without Lester's prankishness." (Read the full review...) 350 words, 12/19/11 Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: OUTSTANDING (cg) "...set aside your memories of the Conan Doyle stories, save them to savor on a night this winter and enjoy this movie as a high-caliber entertainment." (Read the full review...) 875 words, 12/16/11 Nick Pinkerton, Village Voice/LA Weekly: FAIR "Lackluster screenwriting and the absence of actorly communion are breezed past with monotonous banter, as is the fleetingly visible plot.... It is, finally, all sauce, no meat -- that is, usual multiplex stuff extracted from a most remarkable source." (Read the full review...) 712 words, 12/14/11 Bruce DeMara, Toronto Star: WEAK (cg) "...[the product of] a lazy director who has settled for a poorly conceived, pedestrian script.... Before this franchise makes a third outing, someone needs to detect a mystery and a tale worthy of the great detective's talents." (Read the full review...) 584 words, 12/16/11 Rick Groen, Toronto Globe & Mail: MODERATE (cg) "For all their bantering and bosom-buddying, [Downey, Jr. and Law] somehow lack the one thing they can't do without - chemistry." (Read the full review...) 678 words, 12/16/11 Josep Parera, La Opinion: WEAK (cg) "Quizá haya miembros de la misma que, abrumados por el efecto, se dejen engañar y crean haber visto una película.... no es un filme, es un despropósito." (Read the full review...) 603 words, 12/16/11 Norman Wilner, Toronto Now: GOOD (NOT GREAT) (cg) "...shit constantly blows up or catches fire, and the story rarely pauses for breath.... Downey's still miscast as Holmes, but it's less bothersome this time around because we already know what we're in for." (Read the full review...) 174 words, 12/15/11
Mark Jenkins, Washington Post: GOOD (NOT GREAT) (cg) "...draws here and there on Conan Doyle's tales, but it relies more on Hong Kong's hyperactive 1980s new wave, as filtered through 'The Matrix' and Quentin Tarantino.... The game here is action-farce, and that's better played with swagger than with intellect." (Read the full review...) 589 words, 12/16/11 Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: MODERATE (cg) "...every set-up and set-piece in this extravagantly tedious adventure is misleading, or worse, irrelevant.... the intellectual side of Downey's Holmes is represented by not much more than show-off blather and far-fetched 'reasoning.' Not a keen mind so much as a careening script." (Read the full review...) 534 words, 12/16/11 Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star-Tribune: OUTSTANDING (cg) "...a thing of mad, whirring glee. An international crime tour with sets, battle scenes and performances of exaggerated dimensions... the film lampoons the James Bond action template while delivering all the thrills." (Read the full review...) 542 words, 12/16/11 Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: GOOD (NOT GREAT) (cg) "...a manic movie that never knows when to slow down.... [Downey, Jr. and Law] retain the winning chemistry from the first, superior film, and that's enough to make you soldier on through the overly stylized action." (Read the full review...) 496 words, 12/16/11 Ty Burr, Boston Globe: MODERATE (cg) "...the light has gone from the star's eyes and the thrill is gone from this franchise.... we have a movie that keeps selling itself long after the sale has been made." (Read the full review...) 674 words, 12/16/11 Stephen Whitty, New Jersey Star-Ledger: MODERATE (cg) "...for those of us whose fondness for Holmes and Watson is more than elementary - and immune to elbow-in-the-ribs jokes about what really want on at 221B Baker St., if you take my meaning, sir - this is little fun at all." (Read the full review...) 565 words, 12/16/11 Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: POOR (cg) "Guy Ritchie turns Holmes into an action hero, a mumbling mess and a crashing bore, with an English accent that sounds phony even to Americans. He turns him into Captain Jack in Edwardian clothes." (Read the full review...) 693 words, 12/16/11 Moira Macdonald, Seattle Times: GOOD (NOT GREAT) (cg) "There's enough fun to be had to justify the ticket price for fans, but just barely. If a third game is afoot, let's hope Ritchie and the rest have a few more ideas up their velvet sleeves." (Read the full review...) 501 words, 12/16/11 Mike Russell, Portland Oregonian: GOOD (cg) "...has all the merits and demerits of its predecessor, only with a less snarly antagonist, a more thoughtful final showdown and broader Holmes/Watson relationship jokes." (Read the full review...) 320 words, 12/16/11 Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: WEAK (cg) "...the hack director and the hot-dogging star have gotten a second chance to kick a classic character into the gutter.... the most pandering picture of the year? Fo' shizzle, Sherlock." (Read the full review...) 385 words, 12/16/11 Steve Persall, St. Petersburg Times: EXCELLENT (cg) "...elementary compared to its predecessor, and that's a good thing.... Downey relishes each tic and quirk, and playing the self-anointed smartest guy in any room is second nature by now. He's a joy to watch..." (Read the full review...) 530 words, 12/15/11 Adam Graham, Detroit News: GOOD (cg) "While 'Shadows' has its moments, there's something disconcerting about watching Downey Jr. go down this path. Like Nic Cage and Johnny Depp before him, he has become a paycheck chaser, juggling multiple franchises unworthy of his talents." (Read the full review...) 295 words, 12/16/11 Connie Ogle, Miami Herald: MODERATE (cg) "Better than the first one, but not by much." (Read the full review...) 538 words, 12/16/11
Nick Pinkerton, Village Voice/LA Weekly: FAIR "Lackluster screenwriting and the absence of actorly communion are breezed past with monotonous banter, as is the fleetingly visible plot.... It is, finally, all sauce, no meat -- that is, usual multiplex stuff extracted from a most remarkable source." (Read the full review...) 712 words, 12/14/11 Josh Tyler, Cinema Blend: EXCELLENT (cg) "The action is intense, the story complex and thrilling, the characters as subtle and nuanced as a good Sherlock Holmes story deserves. Whether or not you liked the first one, get cracking and see 'Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.' " (Read the full review...) 705 words, 12/15/11 Brett Michel, Boston Phoenix: MODERATE (cg) "The sequel lacks some of the fun of the first, despite the fact that -- or maybe because -- it adds more explosive action.... The late-breaking plot involving chess and pre-World War I spy intrigue is elementary, and so is the film's appeal." (Read the full review...) 153 words, 12/15/11 Keith Phipps, AV Club: MODERATE (cg) "So many explosions, but it still finds a way to fizzle out." (Read the full review...) 397 words, 12/15/11 Jen Yamato, Movieline: VERY GOOD (cg) "The play between wild-eyed Downey and the serenely unsettling [Jared] Harris crackles with a chemistry befitting Doyle's iconic literary nemeses..." (Read the full review...) 895 words, 12/15/11 Nick Schager, Slant: WEAK (cg) "Ritchie goes for tedious commotion over cheeky comedy or cleverness in this depressingly flaccid follow-up... Cacophony reigns supreme... [a] thoroughly muddled adventure, which mistakes intricacy for mystery at every turn..." (Read the full review...) 576 words, 12/14/11 Norman Wilner, Toronto Now: GOOD (NOT GREAT) (cg) "...shit constantly blows up or catches fire, and the story rarely pauses for breath.... Downey's still miscast as Holmes, but it's less bothersome this time around because we already know what we're in for." (Read the full review...) 174 words, 12/15/11 Edward Adams, Atlanta Creative Loafing: WEAK (cg) "...who cares? If not for some well choreographed fight and chase sequences, a couple of cool 'things go boom' scenes and Ritchie's signature hyper-action camera magic, this raspy but comically prim thriller would stall midway through the ride." (Read the full review...) 850 words, 12/16/11 MaryAnn Johanson, Flick Filosopher: EXCELLENT (cg) "...nice to see a story about male friends that is this fresh and funny and honest.... there are twists from the original stories, and some of them twist in unexpected ways. The fun of finding new things to say about an old story is very much afoot here." (Read the full review...) 922 words, 12/13/11
Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: POOR " 'Hidden within the unconscious is an insatiable desire for conflict,' Moriarty intones at a crucial point. Maybe so, but there's also a desire for coherence and humanity in movies. This one doesn't feed it." (Read the full review...) 212 words, 12/16/11 A.O. Scott, New York Times: FAIR "Can a movie be hyperactive and lazy at the same time? Clever and idiotic? If the director is Guy Ritchie, the questions answer themselves.... There is a plot, but no real intrigue, mystery or suspense, and no inkling of anything at stake beyond a childish and belligerent idea of fun." (Read the full review...) 497 words, 12/16/11 Andrew Lapin, NPR: WEAK "...the sense of mystery has gone missing. A most heinous crime has taken place.... Holmes has become a Looney Tune, an exhausting, manic buffoon who keeps almost dying before bouncing, bright and chipper, back to life." (Read the full review...) 593 words, 12/15/11 Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: GOOD "...a few shades brighter than its predecessor... the action bits are certainly closer to the full-throttle 'Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels' mode director Guy Ritchie didn't quite capture the first time." (Read the full review...) 764 words, 12/16/11 Andrew O'Hehir, Salon: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "...occasionally thrilling, sometimes hilarious and mostly absolute claptrap. Think of it as a lot like drinking a fourth cup of holiday eggnog: Not really a good idea at all, but you might have fun." (Read the full review...) 970 words, 12/15/11
Brian Lowry, Daily Variety: VERY GOOD "...while director Guy Ritchie's excesses and modern concessions -- among them a lot of explosions -- remain intact, the [other] parts of this second 'Sherlock Holmes' are considerably more rewarding... [the film] sizzles in its quieter moments between Holmes and Moriarty..." (Read the full review...) 542 words, 12/08/11 Todd McCarthy, Hollywood Reporter: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "...an elaborate entertainment that whooshes along through the messy streets and posh clubs of 1891 London... when the film finally gets down to the business of a climax at a gathering of elite European diplomats in a precariously perched Swiss mountain castle, it becomes not half-bad." (Read the full review...) 880 words, 12/08/11 Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: GOOD "...a few shades brighter than its predecessor... the action bits are certainly closer to the full-throttle 'Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels' mode director Guy Ritchie didn't quite capture the first time." (Read the full review...) 764 words, 12/16/11 Emanuel Levy, Cinema 24/7: GOOD (cg) "...more of the same, only bigger.... This is pretty much 'James Bond' set in the 1890s.... any sense of a classic mystery story has been completely jettisoned.... New Holmes fans will have no problem... a more-than-serviceable second time around." (Read the full review...) 670 words, 12/13/11 A.O. Scott, New York Times: FAIR "Can a movie be hyperactive and lazy at the same time? Clever and idiotic? If the director is Guy Ritchie, the questions answer themselves.... There is a plot, but no real intrigue, mystery or suspense, and no inkling of anything at stake beyond a childish and belligerent idea of fun." (Read the full review...) 497 words, 12/16/11 Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: POOR " 'Hidden within the unconscious is an insatiable desire for conflict,' Moriarty intones at a crucial point. Maybe so, but there's also a desire for coherence and humanity in movies. This one doesn't feed it." (Read the full review...) 212 words, 12/16/11
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