Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

There is a new criminal mastermind at large (Professor Moriarty) and not only is he Holmes’ intellectual equal, but his capacity for evil and lack of conscience may give him an advantage over the detective.

Critics were split on whether the sequel improves on or squanders the original's formula — some found it a genuinely stronger film, others felt it reached lower and still missed. Nearly everyone agreed the Holmes-Watson dynamic carries the picture, but supporting players like Rapace and Fry were widely seen as wasted, and the film's noisy, maximalist style divided opinion sharply. Audiences took to it considerably more warmly than critics did.