Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011)
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Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson must travel across Europe to thwart a conspiracy by the cunning Professor Moriarty.
The story
In 1891, a series of bombings blamed on political radicals bring France and Germany to the brink of war. Detective Sherlock Holmes narrowly intercepts one such bomb intended for expert surgeon Dr. Hoffmanstahl and Holmes' former lover Irene Adler. Holmes identifies the true culprit as the mastermind Professor James Moriarty. To stop Moriarty's escalating plot, Holmes and his friend, Dr. John Watson, must team up with a Romani fortune-teller named Simza. The trio travels across Europe, navigating a web of conspiracy and danger to uncover Moriarty's ultimate goal of instigating a major European conflict.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
In 1891, a series of bombings brings France and Germany to the brink of war. Sherlock Holmes intercepts a bomb intended for Dr. Hoffmanstahl and Irene Adler, identifying the mastermind as Professor James Moriarty. After a series of events, including a meeting with his brother Mycroft and a confrontation with Moriarty, Holmes and Watson team up with a Romani fortune-teller, Simza. They travel to Paris and then to Germany, where Holmes is captured and tortured by Moriarty. He discovers Moriarty's plan to profit from a manufactured world war. After escaping, they reach a peace summit in Switzerland. Holmes and Moriarty engage in a final confrontation on a balcony; they fall into the Reichenbach Falls. Following Holmes's apparent death, Watson finds a message from Mycroft, and a hidden Holmes is seen typing on a typewriter, suggesting he may still be alive.
- First release year
- 2011
- Runtime (minutes)
- 129
- Production countries
- United States; United Kingdom
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Guy Ritchie
- Writers
- Kieran Mulroney · writer; Michele Mulroney · writer
- Cast and characters
- Robert Downey Jr. · Sherlock Holmes; Jude Law · Dr. John Watson; Noomi Rapace · Madame Simza "Sim" Heron; Jared Harris · Professor Moriarty; Stephen Fry · Mycroft Holmes; Kelly Reilly · Mary Morstan; Eddie Marsan · Inspector Lestrade; Rachel McAdams · Irene Adler
- Genres
- period mystery; action
- Themes
- war; conspiracy
- Tone and mood
- action; mystery
- Premise and plot tags
- mystery; action; period piece; sequel
- Source material / true-story basis
- Conan Doyle's short stories, including 'The Final Problem' and 'The Adventure of the Empty House'
- Franchise connections
- Sherlock Holmes
- Reception
- The film received predominantly mixed reviews from critics, with praise for the action sequences and the performances of Downey, Law, and Harris, and criticism over the poor use of its supporting cast, particularly McAdams, but it was commercially successful.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 60% · scale: percentage · review count: 224; Metacritic · score: 48 · scale: 100 · review count: 38
- Production trivia
- The film was intended to be a stand-alone film that did not require knowledge of the previous movie.; The production filmed at several locations including Strasbourg Cathedral and the White Cliffs of Dover.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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