Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

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Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

PG-13

2011

2h 9m

Action

Adventure

Mystery & Thriller

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

60%

Tomatometer

224 Reviews

77%

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100,000+ Ratings

When Austria's crown prince is found dead, evidence seems to point to suicide. However, detective Sherlock Holmes deduces that the prince was murdered and that the crime is but a piece of a puzzle designed by an evil genius named Moriarty. Holmes and his friend Dr. Watson, who are accompanied by a Gypsy whose life Holmes saved, chase Moriarty across Europe in the hope that they can thwart his plot before it can come to fruition.

Critics Consensus

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows is a good yarn thanks to its well-matched leading men but overall stumbles duplicating the well-oiled thrills of the original.

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Sara Michelle Fetters

MovieFreak.com

01/27/2012

2/4

Unlike the 2009 hit that preceded this one there's very little mystery to be found here, not much in the way of puzzles in need of being solved.

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Bruce Diones

The New Yorker

01/16/2012

It's complete trash and makes a mockery of Holmes's vaunted deductive reasoning.

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Adam Graham

Detroit News

12/16/2011

B-

Downey's career is something of a game of shadows, but it's one still worth playing, for now.

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Clint Leavitt

Loud and Clear Reviews

03/24/2025

3.5/5

If one can set aside some of the deviations of these modern twists on the classic characters and simply pick up a bowl of popcorn instead, they’ll be pleased with the game that is afoot.

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Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

03/06/2023

3/4

When it’s all over, audiences may find the experience superficial and in no way reminiscent of Doyle’s stories, but for just over two hours, we’ve been happily diverted.

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Keith Garlington

Keith & the Movies

08/25/2022

2/5

Unfortunately the uniqueness, humor, and charm of the first film are all but missing in the sequel.

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Yuri B.

@RyuBlack 3d

Every bit as good as the first... and the addition of Jared Harris was simply brilliant.

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David C

@Broomcorns May 6

This is a bad movie where I like everyone involved. Just didn't work

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Rich L.

@turnerfan77 May 1

The 2009 Sherlock Holmes was a fun watch so I was excited to see the sequel. This is a visually great looking movie. Unfortunately that’s the only great thing about this movie. They tried to do to much with this sequel and it took the fun out of it. The cast was good and did the best they could with what they had. Overall this was a let down compared to the first one. By The Numbers breakdown: Cast-9 Acting-7 Trailer-7 Ending-6 Story-6 Visuals-8 Direction-6 Sound-7 Genre-7 Sub Genre-7 The Faces For Radio score - 70

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Allan S.

@RT97812168 Apr 29

I do not understand people who are sour on this film. I found it to be fantastic. In my top 20 movies easily. There is a great Arch villain here. The action scenes are superb. Maybe the mystery doesn't read like a typical Sherlock Holmes story, But with the iconic Moriarty versus Sherlock I think this is a fitting narrative. So it's not as comical as the first one but there is still great comedy in the train sequence where Sherlock basically hijacks Watson's honeymoon. That was enough laughter for me for an entire movie. For some reason I find these action sequences better than marvel action films because it's not so overdone. I'm begging for a third movie. Jude law and Robert Downey are amazing together, I hope they are up for it in the future.

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Seola T

@RT01451483 Jan 28

I enjoyed this, but it doesn't measure up to the first one.

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Alex B

@AlexB33 Jan 18

A compelling clever action film take on Holmes that is underrated. Robert does a great job of being a charismatic idiosyncratic eccentric Holmes. Very witty funny film that is magnificent for a Sunday Afternoon watch! 👏👌🏻

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Guy Ritchie

Director

Robert Downey Jr.

Sherlock Holmes

Jude Law

Dr. John Watson

Noomi Rapace

Madam Simza Heron

Rachel McAdams

Irene Adler

Jared Harris

Professor James Moriarty

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Synopsis

When Austria's crown prince is found dead, evidence seems to point to suicide. However, detective Sherlock Holmes deduces that the prince was murdered and that the crime is but a piece of a puzzle designed by an evil genius named Moriarty. Holmes and his friend Dr. Watson, who are accompanied by a Gypsy whose life Holmes saved, chase Moriarty across Europe in the hope that they can thwart his plot before it can come to fruition.

Director: Guy Ritchie
Producer: Joel Silver, Lionel Wigram, Susan Downey, Dan Lin
Screenwriter: Michele Mulroney, Kieran Mulroney, Anthony Peckham
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Production Co: Silver Pictures, Wigram Productions, Village Roadshow Pictures
Rating: PG-13 (Intense Sequences of Violence|Intense Sequences of Action|Some Drug Material)
Genre: Action, Adventure, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: Canadian French
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 16, 2011, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 11, 2012
Box Office (Gross USA): $186.8M
Runtime: 2h 9m
Sound Mix: SDDS, Dolby Digital