Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows 2011

Richard Corliss, TIME Magazine: The shadow in this game is the imposing penumbra of Ritchie's very satisfying 2009 film. It's overt and overwhelming. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: "What do you see?'' the gypsy girl asks him. "Everything,'' Holmes replies. "That is my curse.'' If Downey has a curse, it'll be called "Sherlock Holmes 3.'' Read more

Glenn Kenny, MSN Movies: As big, loud moviemaking goes it's not quite as devoid of charm as it could have been, and things being as they are these days, that's saying something. Read more

A.O. Scott, New York Times: Can a movie be hyperactive and lazy at the same time? Clever and idiotic? If the director is Guy Ritchie, the questions answer themselves. Read more

David Fear, Time Out: How Ritchie can expertly construct such set pieces as a train-bound assault, then thoroughly ruin every other action sequence with his signature self-indulgent slo-mo fetish and gratuitously stuttery editing, is an unsolvable mystery. Read more

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: There's ... a desire for coherence and humanity in movies. This one doesn't feed it. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: Sometimes a sequel is simply a second helping: more of the same, and not quite as appetizing as the first round. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: Here, as before, part of the movie's perversely cheeky design is that it throws away its own cleverness. Read more

Keith Phipps, AV Club: Aims lower than its predecessor's modest ambition, and still misses the mark. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: Robert Downey Jr. is back as Holmes and Jude Law returns as Dr. Watson. They retain the winning chemistry from the first, superior film, and that's enough to make you soldier on through the overly stylized action. Read more

Christy Lemire, Associated Press: What seemed clever and novel the first time around now feels stale and tired; a lot of that has to do with the grimy, gray color scheme, which smothers everything in a dreary, suffocating sameness and saps the film of any real tension or thrills. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: Even at its worst the movie is redeemed by the presence of two fine British character actors playing Conan Doyle regulars: Stephen Fry as Holmes's waggish older brother, Mycroft, and Jared Harris as the fiendish Dr. Moriarty. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: You may ponder: Would this movie actually be less aggravating with Adam Sandler in it, playing twins? Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: What this film really celebrates is crunch-and-thud video-game-style action, not especially well choreographed by director Guy Ritchie. Read more

Joy Tipping, Dallas Morning News: This new outing matches the original Sherlock in wit, action and the bromance between Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law. Read more

Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post: Downey and Law remain this presumptive franchise's draw. Read more

Adam Graham, Detroit News: Downey's career is something of a game of shadows, but it's one still worth playing, for now. Read more

Todd McCarthy, Hollywood Reporter: The wardrobe foolishness comes off fine thanks to Downey's deadpan unashamedness, while the action stuff, perhaps arresting the first couple of times you see it, already seems hackneyed, mannered and overworked, an affectation of diminishing returns. Read more

Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: As Johnny Depp has done so brilliantly with his devilish Jack Sparrow, Downey has made this sly sardonic Sherlock stylistically all his own. Case closed. Read more

Charlie McCollum, San Jose Mercury News: The game is now afoot with Holmes' arch-nemesis, Professor James Moriarity -- and that makes a notable difference. This time, Holmes is up against an equal, and it's elementary indeed that muscle and firepower alone won't carry the day. Read more

Connie Ogle, Miami Herald: Something of an overlong, overblown, disorganized mess, despite being slightly better than its predecessor. Read more

Bruce Diones, New Yorker: It's complete trash and makes a mockery of Holmes's vaunted deductive reasoning. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: Downey may think this interpretation is an insight, or funny, but it pushes what was already a rude rewriting of the classic characters into eye-rolling camp. And it throws everything off balance. Read more

Andrew Lapin, NPR: Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows doesn't rip enough yarn. Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: Ritchie's franchise - 7% classic formula, 93% adrenaline - is smart in a showoffy way that flatters its star as well as its audience. Read more

Kyle Smith, New York Post: The skill level in the script is elementary school, my dear Watson. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: Virtually every set-up and set-piece in this extravagantly tedious adventure is misleading, or worse, irrelevant. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: A Game of Shadows is a stronger, better realized movie that builds upon the strengths of the original and jettisons some of the weaknesses. Read more

Richard Roeper, Richard Roeper.com: I was let down by this loud and flashy but utterly empty sequel. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: The thing to do, I suppose, is to set aside your memories of the Conan Doyle stories, save them to savor on a night this winter and enjoy this movie as a high-caliber entertainment. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: In an act of criminal negligence, Ritchie has wasted Robert Downey Jr. in a sequel that eliminates smarts in favor of relentless headbanging. Read more

Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com: This is Bob Downey, simultaneously playing the fool and pulling your leg, and even at his dumbest he's semi-irresistible. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: There's nothing here but wreckage. "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows" is so ineptly made that the story is advanced solely through announcements. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: "Diminishing returns" is a description that applies to many film series. "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows" is a delicious exception. Read more

Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Is "Game of Shadows" the most pandering picture of the year? Fo' shizzle, Sherlock. Read more

Rick Groen, Globe and Mail: This movie wants to be a horse but, even measured in box-office millions, it's just another nag. Read more

Alonso Duralde, TheWrap: Time and again, the film assaults the eyes with cartoonish visual trickery and deflates the story with its obvious artificiality. Read more

Tom Huddleston, Time Out: A fitfully amusing but largely unsurprising and uninvolving action-movie-by-numbers: elementary, and not in a good way. Read more

Bruce Demara, Toronto Star: It doesn't take a master of deduction to see that Ritchie has decided to play it too safe with this sequel. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: The chemistry between Watson and Holmes is spotty, and their banter grows tedious. Read more

Brian Lowry, Variety: While director Guy Ritchie's excesses and modern concessions -- among them a lot of explosions -- remain intact, the parts of this second Sherlock Holmes are considerably more rewarding. Read more

Nick Pinkerton, Village Voice: Lackluster screenwriting and the absence of actorly communion are breezed past with monotonous banter, as is the fleetingly visible plot. Read more

Mark Jenkins, Washington Post: It's a modest improvement on bad-boy director Guy Ritchie's first tweaking of Arthur Conan Doyle's iconic detective. Read more