It's complete trash and makes a mockery of Holmes's vaunted deductive reasoning.
- Bruce Diones, New Yorker, January 16, 2012
Sherlock Holmes - A Game of Shadows does have one trick up its sleeve that makes it a worthy companion to its predecessor: the upgrading of the homo-erotic subtext to clear-as-day text.
- Simon Miraudo, Quickflix, January 11, 2012
Infinitely more watchable than its predecessor, with Downey, Law and, now, Fry all on top form. Yet McAdams is sorely missed.
- Ed Gibbs, The Sun Herald, January 01, 2012
Oh dear. Guy Ritchie has been bankrolled to pillage Arthur Conan Doyle's famous detective once more, despite the raspberries from critics two years ago, and is as determined to present Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson as figments of his own imagination.
- Andrew L. Urban, Urban Cinefile, December 20, 2011
Eating hedgehog goulash, a bride thrown off a train, Sherlock Holmes disguised as a chair and a naked Stephen Fry are some of the incongruous moments of Guy Ritchie's sequel which again has little to do with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's characters.
- Louise Keller, Urban Cinefile, December 20, 2011
Downey's career is something of a game of shadows, but it's one still worth playing, for now.
- Adam Graham, Detroit News, December 16, 2011
Downey and Law remain this presumptive franchise's draw.
- Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post, December 16, 2011
What this film really celebrates is crunch-and-thud video-game-style action, not especially well choreographed by director Guy Ritchie.
- Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor, December 16, 2011
It doesn't take a master of deduction to see that Ritchie has decided to play it too safe with this sequel.
- Bruce Demara, Toronto Star, December 16, 2011
In an act of criminal negligence, Ritchie has wasted Robert Downey Jr. in a sequel that eliminates smarts in favor of relentless headbanging.
- Peter Travers, Rolling Stone, December 16, 2011
Downey may think this interpretation is an insight, or funny, but it pushes what was already a rude rewriting of the classic characters into eye-rolling camp. And it throws everything off balance.
- Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger, December 16, 2011
I was let down by this loud and flashy but utterly empty sequel.
- Richard Roeper, Richard Roeper.com, December 16, 2011
This movie wants to be a horse but, even measured in box-office millions, it's just another nag.
- Rick Groen, Globe and Mail, December 16, 2011
Ritchie's franchise - 7% classic formula, 93% adrenaline - is smart in a showoffy way that flatters its star as well as its audience.
- Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News, December 16, 2011
The skill level in the script is elementary school, my dear Watson.
- Kyle Smith, New York Post, December 16, 2011
If you want a silly, fast-paced action film to help you through the holiday, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows will serve.
- David Sexton, This is London, December 16, 2011
It's a modest improvement on bad-boy director Guy Ritchie's first tweaking of Arthur Conan Doyle's iconic detective.
- Mark Jenkins, Washington Post, December 16, 2011
There's nothing here but wreckage. "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows" is so ineptly made that the story is advanced solely through announcements.
- Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle, December 15, 2011
Something of an overlong, overblown, disorganized mess, despite being slightly better than its predecessor.
- Connie Ogle, Miami Herald, December 16, 2011
Two straight man inadvertently ending up in a scenario in which they appear to be homosexual can no longer be described as the height of comedic sophistication.
- Charlie Lyne, Ultra Culture, December 23, 2011
