2012 Movie #26 - Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011) After the pleasant surprise of the first Guy Ritchie Sherlock Holmes film, I was looking forward to the next film in the franchise. The high points continue to be the chemistry between Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law and moments of visual brilliance. Unfortunately the movie quickly devolves into “stuff happening” for the majority of its run-time, as the many visual flourishes often distract from the key information and character beats needed to engage in the story. It’s dangerous to focus so heavily on style over story with a film like this, as it’s easy to lose the audience involvement when you rely so heavily on unseen mysterious machinations to drive the plot. What I’ll take away: slow-motion is a dangerous thing. If you use it well, it can be thrilling and beautiful. If you use it poorly, it can distance the audience, ruin the storytelling pace, and lose focus on the important elements of a scene. High-res

2012 Movie #26 - Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011)

After the pleasant surprise of the first Guy Ritchie Sherlock Holmes film, I was looking forward to the next film in the franchise. The high points continue to be the chemistry between Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law and moments of visual brilliance. Unfortunately the movie quickly devolves into “stuff happening” for the majority of its run-time, as the many visual flourishes often distract from the key information and character beats needed to engage in the story. It’s dangerous to focus so heavily on style over story with a film like this, as it’s easy to lose the audience involvement when you rely so heavily on unseen mysterious machinations to drive the plot.

What I’ll take away: slow-motion is a dangerous thing. If you use it well, it can be thrilling and beautiful. If you use it poorly, it can distance the audience, ruin the storytelling pace, and lose focus on the important elements of a scene.