Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows is a 2011 period mystery action film and a sequel to the 2009 film Sherlock Holmes. The film is directed by Guy Ritchie and produced by Dan Lin, Joel Silver, Lionel Wigram, and Susan Downey.
The film's screenplay was written by Kieran Mulroney and Michele Mulroney. Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law reprise their roles as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson, respectively, alongside Noomi Rapace as Madame Simza "Sim" Heron, Jared Harris as Professor Moriarty, Stephen Fry as Mycroft Holmes, Kelly Reilly as Mary Morstan, Eddie Marsan as Inspector Lestrade, William Houston as Constable Clark, and Rachel McAdams as Irene Adler. Although the film follows an original premise, it incorporates more closely elements of Conan Doyle's short stories, including "The Final Problem" and "The Adventure of the Empty House". In the film, Holmes and Watson travel across Europe with a Romani fortune-teller to foil an intricate plot by the cunning Professor Moriarty to instigate a major European conflict.
Though 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, it was commercially successful, with a worldwide gross of over $543 million. A third film to be directed by Dexter Fletcher is currently in development hell.
Plot
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 instead intended for expert surgeon Dr. Hoffmanstahl and Holmes' former lover Irene Adler. Holmes explains the true culprit to be Adler and Hoffmanstahl's employer, Professor James Moriarty, who has the two assassinated after they flee the scene. Holmes discloses to his friend, Dr. John Watson, that he has connected seemingly unrelated murders, terrorist attacks, and business acquisitions to Moriarty.After meeting with his brother Mycroft at Watson's bachelor party, Holmes meets with Romani fortune-teller Madame Simza, the intended recipient of the letter he took from Adler, sent by her brother René. He defeats an assassin sent to kill her, but she flees.
After the wedding of Watson and Mary Morstan, Holmes meets Moriarty for the first time. Moriarty taunts him about murdering Adler and threatens to kill Watson and Mary due to Holmes' interference, while the detective vows to defeat him.
Moriarty's men ambush Watson and Mary on a train to their honeymoon in Brighton. Holmes throws Mary from the train into a river, where she is rescued by Mycroft. After defeating Moriarty's men, Holmes and Watson travel to Paris and locate Simza. Holmes tells her she has been targeted because René is working for Moriarty and may have told her his plans.
Simza takes the pair to the headquarters of an anarchist group to which she and René belonged, and which has been forced to plant bombs for Moriarty. The trio follows Holmes' deduction that the bomb is in the Paris Opera. It is actually in a nearby hotel, where it kills several businessmen – a cover-up for the assassination of Alfred Meinhard by Sebastian Moran, expert sharpshooter and henchman to Moriarty. Meinhard's death grants Moriarty ownership of the former's arms factory in Heilbronn.
The trio follow Moriarty to Germany. At the factory, Moriarty captures, interrogates, and tortures Holmes while Watson fights Moran. Holmes spells out Moriarty's plot, revealing that the Professor acquired shares in multiple war profiteering companies and intends to instigate a world war to make himself a fortune.
Watson uses a cannon to destroy the watchtower in which Moran is concealed. The structure collapses into the warehouse where Moriarty is holding Holmes captive. Watson, Simza, and Holmes soon escape. Once out of the factory, Holmes deduces that Moriarty's final goal will be to create an international incident at a peace summit in Switzerland. At the summit, Holmes deduces that René is the assassin disguised as one of the ambassadors, having been given radical reconstructive surgery by Hoffmanstahl.
Holmes and Moriarty meet on a balcony to discuss their plans over a game of chess. Watson and Simza stop René's assassination attempt, but René is killed by Moran. Despite his war being averted, Moriarty remains confident in his victory, predicting to Holmes that the nations of Europe will inevitably go to war with one another. Holmes reveals that, while being tortured by Moriarty, he replaced the professor's personal diary that contained his plans and financing with a duplicate, whilst the original was sent to Mary, who decrypted the code using a book Holmes had noticed in Moriarty's office, before passing the information to Inspector Lestrade, who seizes Moriarty's assets and donates his fortune to charities for war widows and orphans.
Holmes and Moriarty anticipate a fight, and both realise that Moriarty will win due to Holmes' injured shoulder. With Moriarty vowing to kill Watson and Mary, Holmes drags him over the balcony just as Watson arrives, and the two fall into the Reichenbach Falls.
Following Holmes's funeral, Watson and Mary prepare to have their belated honeymoon when the doctor receives a package containing Mycroft's breathing device, which Sherlock noticed before the summit. Realising that Holmes may be alive, Watson leaves his office to ask Mary about the delivery man; while Holmes, having concealed himself, reads Watson's memoirs on the typewriter and adds a question mark after the words "The End".
Cast
Production
After the success of the 2009 film Sherlock Holmes, a sequel was fast-tracked by Warner Bros. with director Guy Ritchie dropping out of an adaptation of Lobo and Robert Downey Jr. leaving Cowboys & Aliens.It was unclear if Rachel McAdams would appear in the film; McAdams said, "If I do, it won't be a very big thing. It's not a lead part." Warner Bros. later confirmed to Entertainment Weekly that McAdams would play a part in the sequel but that it would be a cameo appearance. The female lead role was played by Noomi Rapace. Joel Silver, the film's producer, has said that "we always intended to have a different kind of girl for each movie" in the vein of Bond girls. He found it "complicated" to persuade McAdams to return in a smaller role: "She loved being with us, but she hoped to have a bigger role. I think at the end of the day it worked out fine." The death of Adler in the film left many fans speculating her character faked her demise.
The film, then under the working title of Sherlock Holmes 2, was reported to be influenced by Conan Doyle's "The Final Problem". While the film took place a year after the events of the first film, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows was intended to be a stand-alone film that did not require knowledge of the previous movie.
In October 2010, the steamship PS Waverley was chartered on the English Channel for filming, and a large green screen was erected at Didcot Railway Centre, where a large action scene was filmed the following month. In late November, a scene was filmed at Victoria Bridge in Worcestershire, England. In January 2011, scenes were also filmed at Hampton Court Palace and areas in Oxford University.
In early February 2011, principal photography moved for two days to Strasbourg, France. Shooting took place on, around, and inside Strasbourg Cathedral. The scene was said at the time to be the opening scene of the film, as it covered an assassination and bombing in a German-speaking town.
The production also filmed at several locations in Kent including Fort Amherst, Knole and The Historic Dockyard Chatham. The White Cliffs of Dover are also briefly featured in the movie, as is the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich. Several scenes were also filmed at Elstree Studios in Hertfordshire.
Music
composed the film's score. In addition to featuring existing works by Johann Strauss II, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ennio Morricone, and Franz Schubert, Zimmer included elements from authentic Romani music. Zimmer, accompanied by director Guy Ritchie and some of Zimmer's musicians, traveled to France, Italy, and Slovakia to research the local music firsthand and to "listen to as many musicians as we could." Deeply impressed, Zimmer arranged for 13 of the local musicians — with their personal violins and accordions — to join him in Vienna at a studio for a recording session. Zimmer incorporated this Romani music into the score for the film. It was reported a portion of proceeds from the soundtrack would be given to the impoverished Romani villages to help pay for necessities, such as water and heat.Release
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows was released on 16 December 2011 in Canada, Mexico, Russia, the United States, and the United Kingdom; on 25 December 2011 in most other countries; and on 5 January 2012 in Australia, Poland, and Spain.Home media
The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on 12 June 2012 for Region 1 and 14 May 2012 for Region 2 and Region 4.Reception
Box office
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows earned $186.8 million in North America as well as $357 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $543.4 million. It was the 12th-highest-grossing film of 2011 worldwide.In North America, it topped the box office on its opening day with $14.6 million, down from the opening-day gross of the previous film, $24.6 million. During the weekend, it grossed $39.6 million, leading the box office but earning approximately two-thirds as much as its predecessor on its opening weekend. By the end of its theatrical run, it became the ninth-highest-grossing film of 2011 in the US.
Outside North America, the film earned $14.6 million on its opening weekend, finishing in third place. It topped the overseas box office during three consecutive weekends in January 2012. It eventually surpassed its predecessor's foreign total of $315 million. In the UK, Ireland and Malta, its highest-grossing market after North America, the film achieved a first-place opening of £3.83 million over a three-day period, compared to the £3.08 million earned in two days by the original film. It earned $42.2 million in total in this market. In the Commonwealth of Independent States and in Italy, the film earned $28.4 million and $24.5 million, respectively.