Movie Reviews: Sherlock Holmes:  A Game of Shadows

While there was a buzz in early December getting prepared for the holidays, there was also a buzz in the movie industry. The highly anticipated movie Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows was set to be released on December 16. The movie is the sequel to the 2009 movie Sherlock Holmes.  The film is a mixture of action, suspense, and mystery as you watch Holmes and his partner in crime, Dr. Watson, solve yet another mystery that most likely saved the world from disaster.

The sequel was expected to hit the box office with a harder punch than the original, but it didn’t even get close. On opening day it raked in 14.6 million, while the original brought in 24.6 million. Although it didn’t make as much as the first movie, it still brought in an outstanding world-wide total of nearly 403 million dollars, with 175 million coming from the U.S.

The movie got mixed reviews from a variety of critics, with most of them agreeing that the movie was an interesting thriller but didn’t have that Wow factor like they had hoped for. According to Rotten Tomatoes, a movie reviewing company, 60% of critics gave it a positive review while the other 40%   gave it a bad rep. Lisa Kennedy of The Denver Post says ,” Downey and Law remain the face of the always entertaining Sherlock Holmes industry.” However, people like Bruce Diones of New York felt the movie was worthless leaving reviews like,” It’s complete trash and makes mockery of Holmes’ vaunted deductive reasoning.”

Junior Tyler Walter thought the movie was interesting and entertaining but was a little disappointed with it. “I don’t think the movie was bad or a fail, but I just think the first one was overall a better movie. The previews made it seem like this one was going to blow the original out of the water, but I don’t think it did. On the other end is Greg Moomaw, a recent graduate of Garaway High. “Since I haven’t seen the first Sherlock Holmes movie I don’t have anything to compare it to. I thought A Game of Shadows  was an intense thriller that entertained from start to finish. Overall I was impressed with it.” He says.

So there you have it. The long awaited sequel to Sherlock Holmes was greeted with many different opinions, some praising the film and others bashing it. In my opinion, if you are trying to decide whether to go watch it or not, I’d go watch it.