Movie · 2011 · Adventure, Mystery, Crime · 2h 9m · PG-13 · English
Curator score: 3.3/10 (874.3K ratings)
The game is afoot.
Overview
There is a new criminal mastermind at large (Professor Moriarty) and not only is he Holmes’ intellectual equal, but his capacity for evil and lack of conscience may give him an advantage over the detective.
Ratings
Curator score: 3.3/10
IMDb: 7.4/10
Letterboxd: 3.36/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 60%
Metacritic: 48
TMDB: 7.1/10
Director
Guy Ritchie
Production
Village Roadshow Pictures, Silver Pictures, Wigram Productions, Lin Pictures
Cast
Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Noomi Rapace, Jared Harris, Rachel McAdams, Eddie Marsan, Kelly Reilly, Stephen Fry, Paul Anderson, Geraldine James, William Houston, Wolf Kahler, Iain Mitchell, Jack Laskey, Patricia Slater, Karima McAdams, Richard Cunningham, Marcus Shakesheff, Mark Sheals, George Taylor
Curator Review
Verdict
A flashy, self-aware sequel that leans harder into action, banter, and bromance than pure deduction. It’s less elegant than the first film, but the chemistry, visual energy, and Moriarty-vs-Holmes mind games make it an easy watch if you like stylized blockbuster mystery-adventure.
Best for
Fans of slick, high-energy detective stories
Viewers who enjoy buddy chemistry and playful subtext
People who like action-first period adventure
Audiences who want a charismatic villain and elaborate set pieces
Skip if
You want a faithful, puzzle-forward Sherlock adaptation
You dislike manic editing or CG-heavy action
You prefer restrained period mystery over spectacle
You want the emotional stakes to stay serious and grounded
Overview
Guy Ritchie pushes this sequel further into operatic action-mystery territory, turning Holmes and Moriarty into dueling strategists in a game of layered traps and countertraps. The movie is at its best when it treats intelligence as a physical force: plans unfold like machinery, and every scene feels like another gear clicking into place.
Worth noting
It’s also shamelessly entertaining in a way that can feel both clever and a little ridiculous. The banter is sharp, the chemistry between the leads does a lot of heavy lifting, and the film’s heightened tone makes room for comedy, violence, and a surprising amount of romantic tension in the air.
Bottom line
What keeps it from being a full-throated recommendation is that the spectacle sometimes overwhelms the mystery, and the plotting can feel overengineered. Still, if you’re in the mood for a glossy Victorian adventure with brains, swagger, and a villain who can match Holmes move for move, it delivers enough to justify the ride.
Top Letterboxd reviews
sree (3★) · 1245 likes
what is it with guy ritchie and homoerotic subtext
liam f (4★) · 1191 likes
can't believe I wasted my gay pun on the review for the first one when this film is so much gayer in every single way
Ellie ✨ (4.5★) · 741 likes
rachel mcadams gets killed off before the opening title and she's still the fourth-billed cast member on imdb......her power.....her influence.......
fiend4mojitos (4.5★) · 594 likes
Quick note:
An important reason why Sherlock wins the "game" is that he, unlike Moriarty, gives a crucial importance to the pawns. Mary and Simza are both characters that seemingly pose little to no threat to Moriarty's grander scheme, yet it's only through their efforts (Mary deciphering Moriarty's code, Simza stopping Rene) that Sherlock gains the upper hand before making his final move... and so the pawns are ultimately the ones that bring down Moriarty's/The King's operation.
Moriarty's failure is,… more
Josh Lewis (4★) · 525 likes
gimmicky as it can sometimes be i've always found the vision here of holmes as action deconstructionist strangely vivid and compelling if not faithful. it's broadly but quite convincingly woven into the psychology, relationships, politics and of course mechanized digital style. ritchie exuberantly visualizing the constantly shifting sea of layers and machinations with manic kineticism and an industrial aesthetic with the occasional steampunk gesture—this one in particular is a practically lyrical frenzy of small, moving parts where the literal gears… more gimmicky as it can sometimes be i've always found the vision here of holmes as action deconstructionist strangely vivid and compelling if not faithful. it's broadly but quite convincingly woven into the psychology, relationships, politics and of course mechanized digital style. ritchie exuberantly visualizing the constantly shifting sea of layers and machinations with manic kineticism and an industrial aesthetic with the occasional steampunk gesture—this one in particular is a practically lyrical frenzy of small, moving parts where the literal gears… more
2019 · Comedy, Crime, Mystery · 2h 11m · PG-13 · Curator 8.4/10 (4.7M ratings) · Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video, Philo, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
A modern whodunit that mixes humor, intelligence, and a crowd-pleasing puzzle-box structure.
Topics
period action, mystery thriller, buddy chemistry, Victorian London, stylized violence, cat-and-mouse, blockbuster spectacle, dark comedy, male bonding, high-energy