SHERLOCK HOLMES: A GAME OF SHADOWS

Here's the promised trailer from a few days ago for Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes sequel. If Hollywood does one thing right, it's that it doesn't mess with a good thing. The jokes, slo-mo shots, and detonations are almost carbon copies form the first (hell, even the font they use is an exact replica); but when you make 500 million the first go around, you don't wanna stir the pot too much.



Robert Downey Jr. (Holmes) and Jude Law (Dr. Watson) have obviously returned--seemingly to illustrate how they can't live without one another, regardless of how much peril they encounter while together. The back-and-forth nature of these two men's dialogue was one of the first film's high points. I believe I (and others) will be able to handle another few hours of inane banter.

Professor Moriarty (Holmes' intellectual equal, who was merely hinted at in the original) comes to the forefront, portrayed by Jared Harris; while Swedish import Noomi Rapace (Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy) plays a mysterious (aren't they all?) gypsy named Sim--presumably taking over the vacated archetype that Rachel McAdams filled the last time.

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows premieres December 16, 2011.