The Christmas season is the equivalent of a moviegoer's Carnival. After a long hot summer with a depressingly shallow selection of blockbusters (movies featuring Transformers and Marvel Comics characters, this means you), the cold weather arrives and with it, hope. Oscar season. Suddenly we are bombarded with more quality movie offerings than one could possibly ever find the time to see in theaters. Unless of course we abandoned our family Christmas celebrations and spent the holiday holed up in the local Cinemark until New Year's. But since most of us like our families (at least in the abstract), and don't consider popcorn to be a proper food group, we must prioritize.
This week three notable movies emerged: New Year's Eve, Sherlock Holmes 2, and Mission Impossible 4. I am a sucker for cheesy horrible chick flicks, but New Year's Eve got only an 8% on Rotten Tomatoes, a new low even by my measly standards. I will still probably Redbox it on some PMS-ridden day in the future when I am prone to crying, wearing sweatpants, and binging on chocolate...so you can look for a review on it then. As for Mission Impossible 4, I am shocked at the positive reviews it has been getting. I do tend to like Tom Cruise in spite of his eccentricities. However, seeing the fourth installment of a film series when I don't even remember (or likely blocked out) the second and third, is a leap of faith (and an investment of $9). So, for this weekend, I went with the safer sequel: Sherlock Holmes (2): A Game of Shadows.
The film opens as Dr. Watson (Jude Law), the loyal BFF of our protagonist Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey, Jr.), is about to get married. On the way to the honeymoon, Watson and his very patient and understanding wife Mary (Kelly Reilly) are waylaid by henchmen of Professor Moriarty (Jared Harris), the villian introduced at the end of the first film. Watson is forced to team up once again with the unstable Holmes, along with a ragtag crew of gypsies, in order to stop Moriarty once and for all.
The smart plot twists, witty dialogue, and exciting action sequences we loved in the first film are present here, and may even be more impressive than before. I felt that the supporting cast was deeper in this installment. We meet Mycroft (Stephen Fry), the older brother of Sherlock (or Sherly, as Mycroft calls him) who provides light comic relief, serving as an unexpected bumbling hero to Mary when she is tossed from a moving train, and walks around in the nude as he cracks Sherlock's coded letters. Another great addition to the gang is Sim (Noomi Rapace), a gypsy dynamo who brings a much needed strong feminine presence to the group. I liked that she did not have any romantic entanglements with the main male characters. Women should be able to portray stand-alone characters, not just in the story to swoon and be saved by the men, at least in my opinion. Despite these quality additions, there were some characters and plot choices that I found quite lacking.
Thumbs down to the (SPOILER ALERT) early disposal of Sherlock's former flame Irene (Rachel McAdams) by Moriarty. It felt like a throwaway move, killing off a beloved character (who had amazing chemistry with Holmes) via poisoned tea in the first few minutes, because Rachel McAdams apparently had better things to do (like make a cheesy Valentine's weekend film with Channing Tatum). I also disliked the villian Moriarty (Jared Harris). I feel bad for Jared Harris, because he had a lot to live up to after the chilling and ghoulish performance Mark Strong turned in as Blackwood in the first film. Moriarty just didn't seem to be Holmes' equal in intellect or in physical presence. Visions of Jared Harris's character from "Mad Men," the smarmy and entitled advertising executive Lane Price, kept running through my head. If he can't stand up to Don Draper in the board room, surely he can't take on Sherlock Holmes in a dark weapons factory! I just didn't buy into him as the menacing bad guy. Damn you, AMC. It wasn't enough that you torture me by making me wait over a year for the next season of "Mad Men," now you have to ruin Sherlock Holmes too! But seriously, these weaker characters, while disappointing, did not detract from the thought-provoking adventure and silly fun of this second Holmes mystery. I still really enjoyed the film, and would welcome a third installment.
The holiday movie rush has only just begun, so hang onto your hats! I will be back soon with more posts.
