Sherlock Holmes 2: A Game of Shadows (Guy Ritchie, 2011)

Sherlock Holmes has noticed a selection of seemingly unrelated events – bombings, murders of intellectuals, and he, as only he can, pinpoints Professor James Moriarty as the culprit behind all of these. He is right of course, and soon his sleuthing brings him face-to-face with the villainous genius. Holmes asks Moriarty to keep Doctor Watson out of their intellectual game of chess (Irene Adler has sadly, already been made collateral damage as a result of the two’s mental warfare) , but of course, in saying so only gets his wingman embroiled into things further. It is up to Sherlock then, along with his long-suffering best friend to stop Moriarty before he stops them and reeks war on the rest of Europe.

Much as with the original, the film belongs to the two co-leads, and the fact that they clearly had fun making the film rubs off on us in an infectious Hollywood romp with moments of ingenuity. Unlike with the first, Sherlock’s older brother rears his head, and here, he is played by flamboyant actor Stephen Fry. He is a hoot and a half, and one scene in particular where he is taking to Dr Watson’s wife (played by Kelly Reilly, gorgeous as always) wearing absolutely no clothes, is particularly amusing. There are also laughs to be had in Sherlock’s latest past time – camouflaging himself into his surroundings. As with another Hollywood crowdpleaser of 2011, Kung Fu Panda 2, this film wouldn’t be half as fun without the charms of its leading man.

Elsewhere in casting, Jared Harris makes for an excellent James Moriarty. Whilst he is not as outright creepy as Andrew Scott in the BBC’s modern day TV show, he has the more professorly element of Moriarty down to a T. His scenes with Downey Jr make for great a great cinematic showdown. Noomi Rapace, from the original Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, is also present in this film, with long hair this time, and whilst she isn’t given a whole lot to do in terms of acting, just her presence (she is someone who naturally exudes badass) contributes to the film’s awesome and contributes to its continental flavour as Sherlock, Watson and she and her gang go across enemy lines in order to catch Moriarty.

The big-screen outing of Sherlock Holmes 2 will invariable suffer in comparison to the second series of Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat’s fantastic TV show, which, funnily enough, ends on a similar note as the film, albeit a much more sombre tone. Of course it’s not as good are as clever as the TV show; very few things are. But in its own right, it’s rollicking good fun. Guy Ritchie always does best when he’s playing it straight, as well as given a few decent fight scenes to direct, and he plays to his strengths here (he could, however, have toned it down with the over-stylisation in slow mos and too much sound editing). Downey Jr and Law have plenty of fun, the action sequences are entertaining, rendering this a worthwhile two hours.
Grade: B+

The Girl Who Played with Fire (Daniel Alfredson, 2009)

A year on Lisbeth Salander’s minor victory from the end of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, the eponymous character back in Stockholm. Mikael Blomkvist, who’s magazine Millenium, she had helped gain back a legitimacy in the first film, is now investigating sex trafficking. At the same time, a bunch of murders (including that o the lawyer who raped Salander in the first film) occur, framing Salander for the murders. Lisbeth Salander knows it’s time to go on the run. She also knows that someone is after her.

As with the first film, what makes The Girl Who Played with Fire is Noomi Rapace in the lead role. With her short spikey blame hair, multiple facial piercings and tattoos and skinny frame, she is the physical embodiment of Lisbeth Salander, but her performance is just as noticeable, if not more so, than her physical attributes. In one scene, where she has a man tied up by the neck and is trying to extract the truth from him, face painted white (for some reason), Rapace’s reactions to learning each new fact totally mirror our own. It will be interesting to see how Rooney Mara, who turned heads as Jesse Eisenberg’s love interest in The Social Network, will fill her shoes in David Fincher’s big-budget Hollywood adaptation of the series. From the photos, she looks every bit the part, but Mara has her work cut out filling Rapace’s shoes.

What distinguishes this instalment of the film from the first is that here, we delve deeper into Lisbeth’s murky past, with the reasoning behind her cold exterior illustrated somewhat, especially when we find out why she was labelled “incompetent” in the first place, and what she did to get herself thrown into scare. At the same time, as events become progressively more sinister, Lisbeth comes to accept that sometimes, she can’t handle the world entirely by herself, and becomes more receptive to the held from her friends. At the top of these people is Mikael Blomkvist, who’s belief in Lisbeth’s innocence never falters for a second. As anyone who has read the books will know, the Mikael/Lisbeth will they/won’t they romantic subplot is ongoing throughout the trilogy, and the natural chemistry between the two actors is likeable and believable. Unfortunately they spend much of this film apart, but even so, the way they communicate via short, staccato messages through computers (which Lisbeth hacks expertly) all builds to what I feel is one of the on-screen duos of the 2000s.

That the film is not quite as thrilling as the first is more down to two things. Firstly, the whole “missing person” plotline of the first was a little more interesting. Secondly, it is due to the very high precedent set by the first film. From some scenes, it is easy to see how these two films, and the finale, were adapted into a six-part TV mini-series in its homeland Sweden, as production value is generally not the highest. But, nonetheless, The Girl Who Played With Fire is an intense, well-sculpted bit of filmmaking, worth watching, and one that doesn’t shy away from the dark underbelly of the Swedish underworld. I eagerly await seeing the third.