Shirley Take a Bow

Guy Ritchie, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, 2011
Gosh, what a perfect holiday film! You don't even need to have seen the first one to like this one or understand it. That chemistry that worked so well in the first film between Jude Law and Robert Downey Jr is in full force here, with a big wink to all the people out there writing Sherlock/Holmes slash fiction.  Who nearly steals the show, though, is Jared Harris, who plays the magnificent villain Prof Moriarty, intent on bringing destruction to Europe like a steam punk Bond villain. Moriarty lays one problem after another in front of Sherlock Holmes and Watson, forcing them to travel across Europe - Austria, France, Switzerland - with the help of gypsies in the hope of foiling his plans.

There's a somewhat amusing cameo by Stephen Fry as Sherlock's brother (who keeps calling him "Shirley") but the film really left me wanting to read Conan Doyle's original work, and even Boris Akunin's Fandorin series (this Holmes has a lot of the Russian sleuth in him.)  There are some great one liners (mostly about Brighton), some laugh out scenes and a few jumps - as mindless fun goes, you can't do better than this. Looking forward to the 3rd one.