Sherlock Holmes : A Game Of Shadows

Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law reprise their roles as Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson respectively. Holmes is convinced the well respected academic Professor James Moriarty is at the centre of a grand conspiracy. Watson is trying to marry his fiancè and thinks Holmes is mad. Holmes of course is right.

And so ensues a fairly breathless chase around Europe as the mystery is laid bare. Fights, as with the first film, are explained while being predicted by Holmes in slow motion before playing out in real time. Still a trick unique to this series in portraying the mental side of fisticuffs.

Holmes and Watson still bicker as though it were they who were to be married. The sets still feel slightly charicatured, the characters more so. In adding Moriarty to the blend the heroes are left struggling to keep up and balance is added to guessing what will be the final outcome. But where Ocean's 12 tried to do this and lost all the verve and swagger that made the original so enjoyable, here the focus remains the bromance of the central pairing and another enjoyable romp plays out.

Hugo

Martin Scorcese, famous for gritty, violent gangsters and making Robert DeNiro a star suddenly turns away from 30+ years of entertaining adults to try his hand at a kids film.

A young orphan is convinced mending an old automata he has will deliver a message for him from his dad but to do that he must fix it. This of course means making a new friend who can help, unravelling clues and outwitting grumpy grown ups. So far so formulaic. Which it is, but in a positive way. The film is crafted with a passion for all the delight cinema can deliver, shining with the tradition of the craft and making the old feel new.

As with films like Amélie and Mic Macs, Paris is a perfect location for the adventure, an element of fantasy seemingly infused into every real location.

I can't convince myself the 3D filming was necessary but there were points where it did at least interest me and since the second half of the film revels in depicting filmmaking of the early 20th century it is at least appropriate.

To call this a kids film is perhaps doing it an injustice. I wonder if it might not be more engrossing to grown ups than kids, especially with a very sedate opening. Either way, a great example of quality story telling that you should enjoy aged 9 or 90.