Sherlock Holmes 2: A Game of Shadows (2011)

Photo Credit

Director: Guy Ritchie

Cast: Robert Downey Jr. (Sherlock Holmes), Jude Law (Dr. John Watson), Jared Harris (Professor James Moriarty), Noomi Rapace (Madam Simza Heron), Stephen Fry (Mycroft Holmes)

Plot: Set in 1891, Holmes is in the pursuit of Moriarty who seems to be at the heart of many unrelated terrorist events and murders. Holmes seems to be the only person tracking Moriarty and enlists the help of his trusted friend, Dr. Watson, even if he is attempting to enjoy his honeymoon after arriving drunk at his own wedding thanks to Holmes. Holmes saves Madam Simza from an assassin sent to kill her after a letter from her brother informs her of potential events linked to Moriarty. Her and her brother were involved in anarchist groups before she escaped when they became too serious. Her brother may now be the key to all the conspiracy and may help Holmes stop Moriarty from his plan to create a World War using said anarchists since he owns a number of war-profiting manufacturer's. Holmes and Watson are on one last job to save the world from this potential supervillian!

I saw this film advertised not long ago and it didn't really catch my eye purely because I never made the time to watch the first film, Sherlock Holmes (2009). I would of preferred to have written this review after watching the first film, however after watching the second, I can't bring myself to do that. It really wasn't the film for me for a number of reasons. I can highlight some strengths and will do so in this review but I feel it could have been a lot better than it was.

The films plot, I feel, is far too complex and advanced for the times and I believe today's audiences would still prefer a far simpler, less Jackie Chan-esque Sherlock Holmes as the hero! Downey Jr. is a great comedic actor and definitely holds in own in this film but in my mind, Sherlock uses his intelligence to solve crimes in London, not his fists.

Nowadays we seem to be far more sensitised to violence and feel the need to see it in every film. I believe the fight scenes and over the top action sequences take away from the films potential. It begins in London and then ends up in Switzerland before anyone has even grasped what the hell is going on! The fact is, a good plot is the very essence of a good film. If your audience are left wondering what has happened for the last 129 minutes, you have done something wrong.

Ritchie did direct a fantastic scenic film, with beautiful shots of Paris, Germany and Switzerland and of course, credit is given to the action scenes even if I do think they are too much. Law and Downey Jr. have great chemistry and bounce off each other in their scenes together, there were a few laughs throughout the film so it does encompass comedy and action well.

I did love the character of Madam Simza, the gypsy fortune teller who was part of the anarchist group involved in this war mystery. She is beautifully gracious in all of the fight scenes, she is strong and intelligent, the perfect accomplice for the dynamic duo of Sherlock and Watson. Law for me was the star of this film, he was perfect as Holmes's sidekick and was effortlessly likable.

My favourite scene was when Sherlock Holmes was disguised as a woman in the train, he was attempting to save Watson on his way to his honeymoon disclosing 'I agree, it's not my best disguise'. I liked the fact that Holmes would go to such obvious extremes to reach his target and still get away with it. Although this got some laughs, I feel true fans of any Sherlock mystery would find the new film adaptations a little too slapstick.

The character of Moriarty was well casted with Jared Harris as he has a very suspicious and cold-hearted air to him. He acted well throughout and was a believable villain. However the character of Sherlock Holmes's brother being casted as Stephen Fry I feel is too undermined, he is far too good to be cast as such a minor character! He was fantastic in the film as the eccentric brother.

My view: The film is good for action lovers. It is worth watching if you like well thought out fight sequences but not if you love mysteries being solved with intellect and having a vintage, old school edge to it. I would have liked it to be less up-to-date and more true to the day it would have been set in.

Rating: 5/10

Check out the trailer and my vlog to Sherlock Holmes 2:

Let me know if you would like this voting system out of 10 to get an idea of this films rating or not! Contact me on @Trishaaa_ or comment below. Also let me know your views of this film.

CocoKouture

For the last few months I have been interning at an online magazine called CocoKouture. I have been part of the beauty team where I focus on writing anything about makeup, skincare, beauty products, tanning products and haircare.

I have been doing this to broaden my knowledge of the magazine world and doing this online has better opportunities for young budding writers like myself. I focus mainly on writing about film, travel and art on my personal blog and music for the website OdyseaEntertainment. I love writing and gaining experience online has really helped me gather knowledge about this fast paced career.

You have to meet deadlines, research for the correct information, find images under the correct licensing agreements and much more. The fact that this magazine has given me the opportunity to work with them for another semester means I have even longer to learn as much as I possibly can.

I have decided to promote them here as well as provide the links to my articles and my online profile on the magazine so everyone can see my writing for fashion and beauty instead of reviewing. I recommend a lot of great products I have either used myself or researched.

Remember, every like, follow and comment is greatly appreciated so I hope you enjoy all the articles!

1. 5 Major Beauty Blunders You Don't Want To Fall Victim To

2. How To Find Your Perfect Scent

3. Beauty Spotlight: Benefit Cosmetics

4. Wild Hair: Colourful Trends We're Seeing Now...

5. CK's Holiday 2011 Beauty Product Gift Guide

These are just a few so please have a look and let me know your feedback. I am still learning a lot about fashion and beauty but I am loving the internship as a guest writer/blogger!

If you are interested in getting into writing, make sure you get as much experience as possible, try online opportunities like this so you can write at home and still hold down a job to earn! You need to begin blogs and keep active in your writing! Don't let anything get you down, keep writing for fun as well as finding internships. Then you can build up a portfolio you feel happy with knowing you put all your effort into it.

I am looking to not only work within a press magazine, fashion website, or online mag but also to write my own novel in the future. I write poetry and short stories and hope to be published one day, with the help of promotion via my blog and twitter, I hope to do so in the near future.

I thought I would share this with my followers and hope you enjoy this extra aspect to my writing!

Below is my promo video for CocoKouture! Hope you enjoy it and subscribe if you would like a sub back!



The Thing (2011)

Photo Credit

NOTE: This is a PREQUEL not a SEQUEL or REMAKE!

Director: Matthijs van Heijningen Jr

Cast: Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Kate), Ulrich Thomsen (Dr. Sander Halvorson), Eric Christian Olsen (Adam), Joel Edgerton (Carter)

Plot: A young paleontologist graduate (Kate) is called upon by friend Adam and scientist Dr. Halvorson to help excavate a finding in the middle of Antarctica. They join an isolated Norwegian team who work together to uncover one of the greatest findings in history. They find a creature that is over 100,000 years old and attempt to keep this finding a secret as long as possible, until it all goes horribly wrong. Kate and Dr. Holvorson come to confrontations about how to deal with this alien life force that is threatening to take over the camp which in turn leads all to wonder who is really human.

I was very excited when I saw this film advertised. I am a big fan of the original The Thing (1982) with Kurt Russell.  I love the effects for the time, the excellent acting and above all, the suspense of the film. This film is even in my Top 10 Horror movies!

I love the idea of a group of individuals being isolated from the world and dealing with something that could threaten earths existence. The fact that they are alone with a creature that can imitate human life will get anyone paranoid and this is the basis of the entire film. It's like a who-done-it type of thriller and it leaves you guessing throughout the whole film. You are always surprised when the alien reveals itself and someone you didn't even consider!

The make up effects at the time were groundbreaking as no one had seem something so believable. This is why The Thing 2011 version had a lot to live up to. With the CGI age at it's peak, I was expecting serious changes in this film that could of threatened my enjoyment of it. Thankfully the film did not over do it with the CGI effects. They were definitely better than the original but they did not over power the film.

The producers of this film decided it was best not to do a remake of John Carpenter's film but a prequel with new characters and a different point of view. This film begins in 1982 before the scene in the original when the husky dog is being chased by the helicopter. This means we are taken into the world when the thing was first discovered as this is only touched upon in the first film.

I love the fact we can see what happens when the spaceship and alien are discovered and how it managed to escape. This is a very good idea as many lovers of the original film would be disappointed no matter how good the remake would of been. This film certainly has some good moments and twists. I love the addition of two female characters as this adds an element of vulnerability but also a female heroine which is more commonly seen these days.

There are obviously some parallels to the original film, in terms of how they come up with techniques to discover who is human and who is alien once people start becoming infected. This is a good idea as if these people discovered the alien, they would not have come up with the same scientific experiments as those in the second camp! They still came up with the same way to fight the alien, with flame-throwers on site. This is obviously because they would of had the same equipment on site so this similarity is believable.

The film holds suspense well as you see a build up through the slow pace of the film. I like when two of the team members who crashed in the helicopter with the alien on board return, and how they are treated as outcasts similarly to the character of Blair in the first film. One of these outcasts is Carter who reflects the character of MacReady (Kurt Russell). He is the rebel American who helps Kate survive but in fact it is Kate who is the leading woman and who also portrays a side of MacReady.

The effects of the spaceship were the only downside to the film as it was unnecessary. In the first film the spaceship was considerably smaller and not shown as much which I thought was a better way to deal with the ship element.

Near the end, we see that the dog, which was meant to have been killed by the alien at the very beginning of this film, escapes. It had cleverly been hiding away while the events unfolded, waiting for it's chance to get away and spread. This leaves it open to begin the start of the original film but we also see Kate as the lone survivor which also poses the question, is she still human?

My view: I liked this prequel as it gave some answers as to what happened before the first film and introduced some interesting characters. I enjoyed the special effects up until the spaceship but felt the ending was ambiguous as we weren't sure if Kate was infected or not. This can be seen as a good thing but in my mind it just opens the film to a sequel which may have been intended but may not be needed. I like the fact that this film is always left open ended and would prefer not to see the film expand any further than the isolated region of Antarctica as you face ruining the film entirely.

Recommendation: Watch the original again (or for the first time) before you watch this film so you have a better understanding of the film. I watched it just a week before going to the cinema to re-fresh my memory of this classic film!

Check out the trailer:

The original trailer:



My first reaction to the film: