Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2012)

For the last fourteen years, Hollywood has been cranking out movie after movie based on the superheroes that call Marvel Comics home. Some have been insanely successful blockbusters, but others were met with less-positive receptions. One of the Marvel movies that wasn't greeted very warmly was Ghost Rider, which performed well at the box office yet received a ton of negative reviews when it was released in 2007. I liked it in spite of its flaws, but the critical backlash against it seemed to be such that it took Columbia Pictures forever to greenlight a second movie starring Ghost Rider.

But as time passed and the film rights got closer to reverting back to Marvel, Columbia figured that they might as well hurry up and make that sequel so they could keep Ghost Rider under their umbrella. With Nicolas Cage reprising the role he played in 2007 and the guys behind Jason Statham's Crank movies directing it, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance was released five years to the week after its predecessor. It's cheesy, goofy, dumb, and pretty doggone fun.

It's been years since Johnny Blaze (Nicolas Cage) made his Faustian deal that cursed him to become the Ghost Rider. He's spent that time hiding out in a remote part of eastern Europe, trying to avoid letting the Ghost Rider come to the surface as he searches for a way to end the curse that's plagued him for so long. Johnny's hideout is discovered, however, by Moreau (Idris Elba), an old acquaintance who approaches him on behalf of a secret religious sect.

Moreau has sought out Johnny to tell him that the Ghost Rider's presence is needed to protect a young boy named Danny (Fergus Riordan). Danny and his mother, Nadya (Violante Placido), are being hunted by Ray Carrigan (Johnny Whitworth), a vile weasel of a man chasing them at the behest of Roarke (Ciarán Hinds), the actual devil himself. If he can get his hands on Danny, Rourke will use him to perform a ritual that would give him ultimate power on Earth. Promised that the monks Moreau represents will find a way to end his curse if he can protect Danny, Johnny must once again unleash the power of the Ghost Rider and send Rourke back to Hell.

I honestly can't say that Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance is a good movie. But what I can say that I thought it was a hell of a lot of dumb, silly, utterly goofy fun. There's no way to take the movie seriously, but then it doesn't take itself seriously either, it makes it easier to get over how stupid Spirit of Vengeance is. It's the kind of stupid movie that I love, and even though I probably shouldn't, I really enjoyed it.

Spirit of Vengeance was directed by Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, who previously brought us the Crank movies and Gerard Butler's Gamer. Neveldine and Taylor are no strangers to bad movies based on comic books, having written the tremendously awful Jonah Hex a couple of years ago. Their direction is actually pretty good, with some particularly great camerawork courtesy of cinematographer Brandon Trost. Neveldine and Taylor also do a great job of keeping things moving and never letting the movie get boring. Even the scenes whose characters are just sitting around talking have an energy to them that prevents these moments from slowing the movie down.

I also thought the action scenes were actually very well done. Neveldine and Taylor bring the same frenetic excitement that fueled the Crank movies to Spirit of Vengeance's action scenes, and it makes them a lot more awesome than they probably would have been otherwise. The movie's use of 3D makes the action a lot cooler too. While the 3D doesn't add a lot of depth to some of the slower scenes, it actually punches up the action scenes. Most movies that go through a conversion from 2D to 3D in post-production don't really turn out that well, but Spirit of Vengeance's conversion wasn't bad at all.

What was bad, though, was the script. Credited to Scott Gimple, Seth Hoffman, and David S. Goyer (yes, the same David Goyer that co-wrote Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy), the script is about as weak as you can get. The dialogue is poor, the story isn't really much to speak of, and the characters aren't worth a lot. The movie is definitely more spectacle than story, but that doesn't mean that Gimple, Hoffman, and Goyer had to half-ass the whole thing.

It also seems like they couldn't decide if they wanted the movie to be a sequel or a reboot. With Nicolas Cage returning to the lead role, it makes it hard to tell if any inconsistencies between the two Ghost Rider movies are just simple retcons, continuity errors, or if Spirit of Vengeance is a full-blown reboot. It doesn't really matter in the long run, but it's one of those things one would wonder about.

The last thing left to touch on is the cast, the majority of whom is forgettable. Violante Placido isn't very impressive, especially considering her character has practically nothing to do, whole Ciarán Hinds is just boring. Johnny Whitworth and Fergus Riordan at least put forth some effort, but they don't quite stand out either. I will say, though, that I liked Idris Elba and Christopher Lambert (who has a cameo as a monk), so it isn't all bad.

But the supporting cast isn't helped by the fact that they're in a movie with Nicolas Cage, who in recent years has built up a reputation as one of Hollywood's hammiest overactors. And I'm not kidding when I say that Cage's over-the-top performance here puts to shame his notoriously silly work in the remake of The Wicker Man. The scene where he's interrogating some goon and goes of on some wild tirade about how the Ghost Rider is itching to be let loose has to be seen to be believed. Cage is screaming at the top of his lungs, thrashing his head around like he's trying to snap it off, acting like he's completely lost his damn mind. It's some of the most gloriously cheesy acting I've ever seen. I really get a kick out of Cage when he's acting like this, and he definitely doesn't let me down here. He goes beyond chewing the scenery; he swallows it whole.

I can't say I really had very high expectations going into the movie, but it definitely left an impression. The phrase "so bad, it's good" doesn't quite apply; it's more like "so bad, it's freaking awesome." I know that the reviews for the movie have been really bad, but I can an honestly say that I enjoyed it a lot. And although the movie probably doesn't quite deserve it, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance gets three stars from me. I do kinda wish, though, that the Ghost Rider film rights had reverted back to Marvel, just to see if they would have tried squeezing him into the "Marvel Cinematic Universe" they've created. He doesn't have to be in The Avengers or anything, but still, it could have been cool to see.

Final Rating: ***

Chronicle (2012)

The "found footage" style of filmmaking has long been associated with the horror genre. Scary movies pretty much invented and codified the style. Found footage movies aren't completely exclusive to horror, though, as science fiction has occasionally dipped its toes into the pool as well. Cloverfield, with its "man on the street" approach to the classic concept of a giant monster rampaging through an urban metropolis, is perhaps the most famous example. But although they're rare, it's not the only one, thanks to the recent release of Chronicle. Taking a coming-of-age tale and adding a dash of superpowers, Chronicle is a damn fine movie that's a lot more fun that I initially anticipated it would be.

Meet Andrew Detmer (Dane DeHaan), a meek, socially inept teenager who's recently taken to videotaping his day-to-day activities as a means of distancing himself from the hell that is his life. He's picked on at school, and his alcoholic father (Michael Kelly) routinely beats him while his cancer-stricken mother (Bo Peterson) wastes away on her deathbed.

His only friend is his cousin Matt (Alex Russell), who brings Andrew along to a rave on the outskirts of town to help bring him out of his shell. The rave isn't as fun for Andrew as it is for everyone else, but the evening gets a lot more interesting when popular classmate Steve (Michael B. Jordan) asks Andrew to bring his camera to document something he and Matt have found out in the nearby woods.

Steve and Matt lead Andrew to a bizarre hole dug into the ground. Curiosity gets the best of them, and they climb down into the hole to investigate it. They end up discovering a giant, glowing crystal at the end of a deep tunnel. The object quickly changes color and the three are stricken with pain and nosebleeds before something shuts the camera off.

Weeks pass, and the trio have discovered that the exposure to the object they'd found has given them telekinetic abilities. As they get a handle on their new powers, they start out simply having fun and playing practical jokes on unsuspecting people. Things take a dark turn, however, when Andrew begins showing evidence of sociopathic tendencies. It begins when he callously causes a car wreck that puts a man in the hospital. A series of personal tragedies and humiliating incidents that follow soon thereafter begin taking a further toll on Andrew's already fragile psyche. His powers developing to frightening levels, Andrew begins to view himself as an "apex predator" sitting atop the human race.

I didn't really expect a whole lot out of Chronicle when I first stepped into the theater. I wasn't expecting the worst, but I wasn't anticipating anything special either. I didn't think it would be anything more than just an "okay" movie. But it turns out that Chronicle was actually really good. It was a lot better than I thought it would be. I'm actually amazed at just how much fun the movie was. The whole "bullied kid uses supernatural powers for their own gain" thing has been done before, but Chronicle does it well.

Sitting in the director's chair is Josh Trank, a rookie filmmaker making his feature film debut. It's a heck of a debut, because Trank definitely shows he's got some style. Though he does cheat a little by using multiple cameras in the same scene, it still works. That "cheating," combined with the characters using their powers to move their own camera around independently, brought a more cinematic vibe to the usual "found footage" proceedings. This allows Trank to bring a very unique feel to the movie, one that makes it more engaging than it otherwise could have been. (Then again, if you're going to have the camera off by itself and filming everyone from a weird angle, why not just make a regular movie?)

The script, penned by Max Landis, is also really good. While the story is nothing new, Landis crafts it in such a way that it's never boring. Though there's no denying that Chronicle has prominent elements of sci-fi and action, Landis also uses the opportunity to study just how teenagers would act if they ended up with superpowers. They wouldn't immediately run out and become Spider-Man; they'd play pranks, get back at bullies, use their powers to pick up girls. Basically, they'd have a good time.

But then you have somebody like the character Andrew, who keeps getting pushed and pushed until he snaps and pushes back. Dozens of movies have told similar stories in the past, but Landis has crafted Chronicle in such a way that makes it a compelling watch. It's an "absolute power corrupts absolutely" tale that's heart-wrenching because of how much Landis makes you care about Andrew and the other characters. He actually makes you feel genuine concern for them. It goes beyond a simple superhero origin story and becomes one about a young man whose friends must deal with the developing psychosis caused by what some would see as a gift. 

Chronicle is a captivating watch not just because of its direction and writing, but due also to the strong performances from its three primary actors. The characters aren't really that memorable individually, but the three actors really commit themselves to their parts anyway. For example, Alex Russell's character isn't really all that interesting from a superficial standpoint, occasionally spouting off quotes from philosophers to try sounding smart as he flirts with some girl who herself Is continually videotaping everything. But Russell is likable and trying his hardest to make an impression, and that goes a long way.

Michael B. Jordan, meanwhile, puts forth a very fun performance. He's fun, enjoyable, entertaining, and convincing. He's very enthusiastic to the point that it's almost infectious, so much so that a rather terrible incident that has a negative impact on Jordan's character actually takes a lot of the wind out of the movie. I don't want to spoil it, but it shows how good Jordan is.

And we can't go without mentioning Dane DeHaan, whose performance I thought was great. He remains utterly sympathetic throughout the whole movie, even as his character edges closer and closer to insanity. Even as he rampages through Seattle (well, Cape Town doubling for Seattle, but that's beside the point), DeHaan's performance makes you feel so bad for him because this is where all the crap he's gone through has pushed him to. DeHaan makes it believable, playing the role with conviction and intensity. He's damn good, and a lesser performance could have hurt the whole movie.

The other day, I read a review of Chronicle that stated, "Upon closer inspection, Chronicle also isn't really about anything; there is no greater theme to the tale, no life lessons to be learned, and no secrets revealed regarding where that orb that granted the boys their powers came from — just the terrible tragedy of too much power in the hands of young people who aren't emotionally equipped to handle it." I think that quote fits. That really sums up the whole movie. And Chronicle doesn't really even need to be anything more than that, either. It's effective, exciting, and entertaining. The honest truth in any event is that while Chronicle isn't a perfect movie, it's good enough to be a fun ride for an hour and a half. So I'm going to give the movie three and a half stars and my personal approval. 

Final Rating: ***½

Almighty Thor (2011)

I wanted to begin this review by saying a few words about The Asylum, but those words escape me. If you're unaware, The Asylum is a small film studio in Hollywood that has not only brought us goofy monster movies with titles like Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus, but has gained notoriety due to the sheer amount of "mockbusters" they've made over the years. Mockbusters — low-budget movies with titles and plots that copycat high-profile Hollywood productions, produced to siphon a little cash off the mainstream recognition of the big summer releases — make up the bulk of The Asylum's output, to the point that they've practically become the studio's calling card.

I'm having a hard time summing up just how I feel about The Asylum because I simply cannot believe that a company has managed to find even a tiny amount of success by doing nothing more than ripping off mainstream movies. The Asylum's reputation actually proceeded itself in my case, as the first thing I'd ever heard about them was that their mockbusters were all terrible. Dummy me just had to watch some of them, just to see if that was true. And guess what? The movies I've seen really sucked. I've reviewed their knockoffs of Cloverfield and Paranormal Activity in the past, both of which lived up to The Asylum's reputation and were indeed rather awful. But I just couldn't leave well enough alone and I sat down to watch a third one.

I don't shy away from acknowledging that I like superheroes, so I'll confess that I was drawn to The Asylum's knockoff of Thor. I enjoyed the mainstream movie, and the idea of The Asylum doing its own spin on the character (going as far as to actually use Thor, since Norse mythology is public domain) both intrigued me and worried me. I was intrigued because I wanted to see how they'd pull it off, and worried because I was convinced they'd screw the whole thing up somehow. And I figure if I was going to watch this movie, I might as well make the most of it and write about it here. Yeah, I sat through The Asylum's Almighty Thor and you poor saps are going to have to sit there and read all my gripes about it.

 As the movie begins, the demon god Loki (Richard Grieco) leads an assault on Asgard in search of the Hammer of Invincibility. Before he can claim the Hammer, however, Loki is confronted by Odin (Kevin Nash) and his sons, Thor (Cody Deal) and Baldir (Jess Allen). Odin and Baldir are killed in the ensuing struggle, but not before Odin tossed the Hammer through a mystical portal leading to an unknown location within the land the Norse gods call "Midgard." With the warrior princess Járnsaxa (Patricia Velásquez) aiding him, Thor ventures into modern-day Los Angeles to retrieve the Hammer before Loki can acquire it and destroy the universe.

It's not often I say this about movies, but I actually kinda regret having watched Almighty Thor. The movie is that bad. You know the movie you're watching is bad when the only redeeming feature of the whole thing is the song that plays over the closing credits. I mean, I knew going in that the movie wouldn't turn out well, but holy crap. This is actually the worst of the three Asylum movies I've seen thus far, and that's saying a lot.

Sitting at the helm of this disaster is Christopher Ray, the son of prolific exploitation filmmaker Fred Olen Ray. And just like his father, Ray isn't a very good director. His work is just awful; the whole movie is just plain boring. Ray doesn't do a single thing to make it worth watching. The effects are ugly, the cinematography is lazy, and the fight scenes are about as unexciting as they could get. He couldn't even secure any decent locations to film at; Asgard looks more like some random California state park rather than a majestic fantasy land, while if I didn't know any better, I'd swear that Los Angeles was nothing but back alleys and warehouses.

And I have to talk about the special effects for a second. The Asylum couldn't possibly match the effects seen in Marvel's Thor, but it's almost amazing to see just how bad the mockbuster's effects are. To begin with, Odin's castle likes like it was just added into each shot with Photoshop. There's also the butt-ugly dragon/dog things that Loki sets loose, but the most embarrassing of it all is the scene where Loki somehow sends Thor to Hell. It's painfully obvious that the actor is standing in front of a green screen while crew members shine red and yellow lights on him. Even that wouldn't be so bad if the CGI used to represent Hell didn't look painfully fake.

The movie also suffers from a crappy script penned by Erik Estenberg. He apparently doesn't care much about even the simple basics of Norse mythology, since it seems like the only things that even remotely come close to it are the names of the characters. He couldn't even be bothered to use the "Mjolnir" name for either of the hammers Thor wields during the movie. There's also the lousy dialogue and the feeling that some scenes end up repeating themselves.

And then there's how Estenberg writes Thor. The Thor seen here is an impetuous twit who constantly makes stupid choices and has to be bailed out by Jámsaxa (and she even kicks his ass once!). Estenberg even writes a scene where Thor opens fire with an Uzi during a fight with Loki. Yes, Thor brandishes a machine gun in this movie, and it isn't anywhere near as awesome as I wish it were.

I also didn't quite understand why Estenberg chose to have a last-minute scene where it appears that Thor and Jámsaxa were intended to be love interests. By the end of the movie they've supposedly fallen for one another, but outside of a few quick lines of dialogue near the end of the movie, you'd never know it. There's absolutely nothing that would build to it, and the actors have no chemistry together anyway. The whole thing feels like it got slapped on there after the fact in a poor attempt to add some pathos onto the climax.

Bringing up the rear is the cast, who are all pretty awful. Cody Deal stars in the title role, and plays Thor as an annoying, whiny brat. He's constantly bitching about something, and when you combine that with my earlier complaints, it makes Deal practically intolerable. In the supporting role of Jámsaxa, Patricia Velásquez is obviously trying to overcome the awful material. The sad part is that she's dull as dishwater and leaves no impression whatsoever.

This brings us to Richard Grieco, playing the villainous Loki. One would get the impression while watching the movie that he's realized his career has hit rock bottom, since he doesn't seem to give a damn about any of it. If he put forth any less effort, he'd just be standing there. It feels like he's just going through the motions, as if he's depressed that his career after leaving 21 Jump Street has gone so downhill that he's stuck doing crap like this.

As bad as Almighty Thor is, its ineptitude is only exacerbated by the fact that it's boring. I actually felt like stopping the movie halfway through so I could go take a nap or find some other constructive way to waste my time. It's such an awful movie that it makes me want to rethink my opinion of the mainstream Thor for having spawned it. After this, I want to avoid watching any more Asylum mockbusters for as long as I can. But knowing my luck, I'll probably end up watching one next week. And I'm sure it'll suck, too. 

Final Rating: *

The Star Wars Holiday Special (1978)

One element of the Christmas season that I've always enjoyed is the glut of holiday specials that television studios crank out in that span between Thanksgiving and New Year's. A lot of these specials — the classic Rankin/Bass stuff and A Charlie Brown Christmas, for example — have achieved legendary status among Christmas lovers like me. But one special has gone beyond "legendary" and has become one of the most infamous television broadcasts of all time.

I'm speaking, of course, of the catastrophe known as The Star Wars Holiday Special.

If you haven't heard of it, then you've missed out on what many consider to be one of the biggest disasters in television history. Broadcast on CBS on November 17, 1978, just a year and a half after the hugely successful release of the original Star Wars movie (retroactively titled Episode IV: A New Hope), the special has done absolutely nothing but be a continuing embarrassment for everyone involved. The cast and crew either become angry or feign ignorance when asked about its existence. The story goes that even George Lucas himself once said that if he had the time and proper resources, he'd track down every bootleg copy he could and smash them with a hammer. But enough lollygagging; let's jump right into The Star Wars Holiday Special.

Keep in mind that this is a "holiday special," not a "Christmas special." That's important to know, because the holiday being celebrated in this glorious piece of trash is not Christmas, but "Life Day." And as the special begins, we're quickly dropped aboard the Millennium Falcon as Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew) travel to the Wookie home planet of Kashyyyk to get Chewbacca home in time for his family's Life Day celebration. Their voyage is unfortunately impeded, however, when they discover that the Galactic Empire has initiated a security crackdown and their forces have established a blockade around the planet.

Down on Kashyyyk, Chewbacca's family prepares for his return. His wife Malla (Mickey Morton) struggles to prepare a big feast, while his son Lumpy (Patty Maloney) and father Itchy (Paul Gale) just try to stave off boredom through whatever entertainment they can find. But things get shaken up when their home is invaded by a squadron of Stormtroopers as the Imperial Army searches for members of the Rebel Alliance.

That's pretty much the entire plot. There's no way it could fill out an entire feature-length movie, so the special is pretty much presented in the form of a variety show. And as such, we're periodically presented with comedy sketches and musical numbers from such '70s pop culture luminaries as Jefferson Starship, Diahann Carroll, Bea Arthur, Art Carney, and Harvey Korman. And the whole thing is pretty much torture.

Of all the things to have had the Star Wars name slapped on it over the last thirty-four years, The Star Wars Holiday Special is perhaps the most bizarre. For starters, it's absolutely nothing like any of the six movies in the franchise. Sure, it's got some of the famous faces from the saga, but the production design and the overall tone and feel of the special come nowhere near matching the grand spectacle of the movies. And so awful was the reception to the special that it was broadcast only once, and has never seen any sort of official home video release. It exists today only in the form of bootlegs sold at fan conventions and digital copies uploaded to the Internet. If it hadn't been for that handful of people who owned VCRs in 1978 and had the forethought to press the "record" button, the special might have just vanished into obscurity forever. And that would have been a shame, because I'm sure Star Wars fans enjoy having something that makes those dreadful prequels look better by comparison.

This debacle was helmed by Steve Binder, whose entire directorial résumé consists of practically nothing but variety shows. I haven't seen anything else that Binder has worked on, since I'm not a fan of variety shows, but after seeing this piece of crap, I think I'll be staying far, far away from anything with his name on it. For starters, Binder must have had absolutely no budget at all to work with, because everything looks abysmally cheap. The sets and props look like they were slapped together with whatever they could find on the studio's backlots, and with the exception of Chewbacca, the Wookie costumes look like ten-dollar Halloween costumes. I know this was being made for TV in the '70s, but you'd think they could have given Binder and the crew more than 50 bucks and stock footage from A New Hope.

And then there are the different variety sequences, which range from not funny at all, to so saccharinely cute that they'll make you want to vomit, to just plain bizarre. The sequence where Harvey Korman appears in drag as a four-armed chef on a cooking show is so insanely manic that it'll probably have you screaming in hysterics at the screen. That's the tip of the iceberg, as it's definitely out-weirded by Diahann Carroll's segment. I honestly don't know where to begin describing this segment, but by God, I'm gonna try. The setup for the segment sees Itchy watching a performance by Carroll through a virtual reality helmet. The whole thing looks like it should be a bad LSD trip to begin with, but seeing Carroll in a hideous pink wig flirting with Itchy and making sexual innuendos while Itchy reacts like he's having the best sex of his life is all kinds of wrong. It's an incredibly creepy segment that goes on far past its welcome, and it's risqué enough that I'm surprised that they managed to get away with it in what I imagine was supposed to be a family show.

The only thing that comes close to rivaling the utterly bizarre nature of that segment is a portion near the beginning of the special where we see Malla, Lumpy, and Itchy going about their daily routine. What's so bad about that, you may ask? Malla, Lumpy, and Itchy are Wookies, and the Wookie language is basically roars and growls. It wouldn't be so bad if the segment was subtitled, but there's not a single intelligible word at all for nearly ten minutes. We have absolutely no idea what they're talking about, and maybe it's me, but if the actors were trying to communicate through body language, they did a really piss-poor job of it.

And when upon reflection, the special doesn't really feel like it has anything to do with Star Wars. Yeah, all of the big-name characters from the original movie are there (albeit they're mostly relegated to cameos) and the name is there. But in no way does it match the same sense of adventure or excitement that the original trilogy has going for it. If this was my first exposure to the Star Wars universe, there's no way in hell I'd want to watch any of the movies. It's like the producers just created a sci-fi variety show and slapped the Star Wars name on it. The truth is I blame the whole "variety show" garbage for making things that way, because if it hadn't been for that, they could have focused on silly things like a plot or making the special fun to watch. But no, we couldn't have that, could we?

The only part of the whole special that stands out as a positive is the animated sequence, which is really only notable for marking the debut of Boba Fett. Animated by Canadian entertainment company Nelvana, the segment is the closest the entire special comes to matching the feel of the movies. The animation isn't perfect and the characters look more like they belong in the opening credits of Grease rather than a Star Wars special, but it's still a fun little segment and I wish the entire special had followed its lead.

I understand why The Star Wars Holiday Special is the cult phenomenon that it has become. But having sat through it, I'm kinda sad that it even exists at all. I've never been a big Star Wars fan, but no franchise deserves to have something as bad as this be a part of it. The special is so horribly flawed that I can't say I blame George Lucas for trying to wish it out of existence. But then again, Lucas had no problem attaching his name to Howard the Duck, creating Jar Jar Binks, or making unnecessary edits to the original Star Wars trilogy, so what do I know? In any event, The Star Wars Holiday Special is an absolutely horrible mess, a train wreck of epic proportions. And though I may enjoy collecting bad movies, I actually feel kinda guilty for having spent ten bucks on a bootleg DVD-R of this piece of crap at a local comic book convention. But I'll still totally recommend it to all the diehard Star Wars fans out there that have yet to see it. If you think Greedo shooting first and Jar Jar Binks are the worst parts of Star Wars, you haven't seen anything.

Final Rating: *

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011)

When it was announced that Guy Ritchie would be crafting a cinematic reinvention of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's classic literary detective Sherlock Holmes with Robert Downey Jr. in the lead role, it was approached by some with great trepidation. It may not have pleased the diehard Holmes purists, but the movie was a tremendously fun action/adventure movie that made a boatload of money at the box office. And yeah, I personally enjoyed a lot. Because of that, I was really looking forward to its sequel, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. It unfortunately falls into the same trap as most sequels — it's simply not as good as its predecessor — but I still found it to be an entertaining flick despite its flaws.

The wedding of Dr. John Watson (Jude Law) and his beloved fiancée Mary (Kelly Reilly) is soon approaching, and Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) is less than pleased. He tries to distract himself by burying himself in his latest investigation. At the center of this investigation is brilliant mathematician Professor James Moriarty (Jared Harris), whom Holmes has managed to connect to a series of seemingly unrelated murders and anarchistic bombings around the world.

Holmes discovers during his investigation that Moriarty has killed Holmes's romantic foil Irene Adler (Rachel McAdams) and fully intends to do the same to Watson and his new bride should Holmes continue interfering with his grand scheme. A reluctant Watson is thus drawn away from his honeymoon into a new adventure with Holmes, an adventure that will see the duo try to thwart Moriarty from sparking World War I.

I said earlier that A Game of Shadows wasn't as good as the first movie. And I honestly think that's true. A Game of Shadows has a few flaws that I felt held it back from being the best movie it possibly could have been. That's not to say it's a bad movie, though. The movie is a fun ride from beginning to end, with plenty of exciting and entertaining moments that can definitely make the flaws forgivable.

Guy Ritchie returns to the director's chair for the sequel, and his efforts are absolutely fabulous. Ritchie's direction is actually one element that A Game of Shadows improved upon. And considering I loved Ritchie's work on the first movie, that's really saying something. He once again brings an edgy style and panache to the world of Sherlock Holmes, something that I thought was quite refreshing to see. I had no experience with Holmes prior to the first movie, and what little I knew about him put images in my mind of a stodgy, boring, Masterpiece Theatre type of thing. And that's not up my alley at all. But Ritchie made him cool, dangerous, fun.

Ritchie's depiction of Holmes is very stylish, thanks in part to the very slick camerawork courtesy of cinematographer Philippe Rousselot. That style adds a lot of flair to the movie, which makes some scenes a lot more awesome. Take, for example, the climactic fight between Holmes and Moriarty. Remember the fight scene in the first movie where Holmes uses his intellect to anticipate exactly what his opponent will do and ascertain an outcome before any punches are thrown? Ritchie reprises that here, only shaking it up a bit. Moriarty is capable of the same thing, and he and Holmes manage to have a full-blown fight with absolutely no physicality at all. It's a brilliant scene that actually goes a long way in showing that in the hands of Sherlock Holmes and Professor Moriarty, intelligence is as powerful a weapon as any gun.

Ritchie also puts slow-motion and "bullet time" effects to use on multiple occasions, almost to the point of excess. But he uses it creatively, letting it be to each scene's benefit. The chase scene through the snowy forest is particularly noteworthy for this, primarily for the intensity Ritchie approaches it with. The scene is unrelenting, and although it borders on running too long after a while, it's still a fantastic bit of filmmaking.

And just like in the first movie, Ritchie benefits from having a great cast of actors in front of the camera. Everyone in A Game of Shadows makes a fantastic contribution to the movie; there really isn't a bad performance in the whole thing. Robert Downey Jr. returns to play the titular detective and completely owns the role. His portrayal of Holmes as an almost manic insufferable genius is a hell of a lot of fun. Downey plays the part like he was born to do so, and A Game of Shadows is a better movie for having him in the cast.

But that's not to knock the other actors in the movie. Jude Law is engaging and likable as Dr. Watson, essentially playing the straight man to Downey. Stephen Fry is also a great source of amusement in his minor role as Holmes's brother, and despite her character being superfluous to the point of feeling completely unnecessary beyond two or three scenes, Noomi Repace puts forth a fine performance as a gypsy fortune teller who gives Holmes and Watson some vital clues.

Perhaps the best performance among the supporting cast, though, came from Jared Harris as the villainous Professor Moriarty. Harris is superb in the role, playing Moriarty as a charming and charismatic yet completely coldhearted snake. Moriarty is Holmes's equal yet opposite, mirroring his intelligence and cunning yet being completely bankrupt of conscience; Harris portrays this perfectly, playing a perfect foil to Downey's Holmes. It's a captivating performance, one befitting Holmes's archenemy.

The only problem I had with A Game of Shadows was the same I had with the first movie, that being the script. Credited to the husband/wife duo of Kieran and Michele Mulroney, the script feels way too light on plot for a movie of this length. The movie is two hours and ten minutes, and there's only maybe an hour and a half worth of actual story. This was probably due to the need to set up each action sequence, and to the writers' credit, it allows for a lot of fun moments with the characters.

As I said, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows isn't quite as good as the first movie. It's still a very entertaining movie that I most certainly enjoyed a lot. The action is fun, the acting is stellar, and the movie itself is impressively produced. It's already been announced that Sherlock Holmes 3 is in the works, and if A Game of Shadows is any indication, we could be in for a great ongoing franchise. There's a ton of movies out there for you to see this holiday season, but you wouldn't go wrong by seeing this one. It's well worth the time and money.

Final Rating: ***½