Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows (film)

The movie theater is silent; you sit in front of the screen with a tub of popcorn. The action starts and you see in front of you the magnificent title.

"Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows" is the more recent release from the newest Hollywood revival of the great (to not call him absolutely awesome, fantastically-magnificent) Sherlock Holmes.

For some of you who don't know who he is or why I use those adjectives to describe him in such an utterly flattering manner, here goes a tiny little background:

Sherlock Holmes is a fictional character created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle back in 1887. He is a consultant detective for the police and usually solves cases with the help of his well trained deductive and observation abilities. He is friends with Dr. John Watson, who serves as companion and chronicler, as he writes about Holmes' adventures.

With that cleared up, let's continue with this:

Sherlock Holmes first appeared in 1887. Today it's the first days of 2012, we still know about him and he is still around impressing us, as good as ever.

Being a sequel is never simple, but this movie pulls it off well. This time you don't see Robert Downey Jr. or Jude Law playing their parts skillfully as the first time. Now, you see Sherlock Holmes and John Watson right from the start, you don't question their acting, because they are no longer the actors, but the characters.

This movie is far superior to its predecessor for a lot of reasons:

It is aimed towards an audience who can take stronger plot points and will still enjoy the ending, even if they are die-hard fans and know how the conclusion goes. It conceptualizes better what the great consultant detective was all about, from the point where he takes the case lightly, convinced he's got the upper hand, to the point where it all exceeds his grasp and he has to make do of all his intellect and skills to overcome the dangers that threaten him.

You get to see character evolution, since in the first movie, the directors were reluctant to show some interesting aspects, probably afraid that people wouldn't accept them. In this movie this is no longer a problem, they experiment a lot with both characters and direction itself. I'm happy to report it had successful results.

Everyone involved in the project made sure you actually felt transported to the era where the characters are portrayed in. The clothes and backgrounds compliment the atmosphere in a very pleasant manner.

"Sherlock Homes: A game of Shadows" tells the story of the showdown between our hero and his greatest enemy; a well connected one at that. Sherlock must use every logical and physical tool at his disposal to overcome the challenges his archenemy places before him as he tries to defeat him in a sweet old-fashioned game of skill, since both men are driven by their intelligence and ego. It involves a beautiful series of encounters where the mind plays a far superior role than that of a revolver.

I say "tells the story" because in this second installment they keep it traditional and show Dr. John Watson writing about it at the beginning, much like if you were reading one of the tales, which gives you a very welcome feeling of electric excitement in a second exploit that also makes you feel the thrill of being present, minus the dangers of being attacked by Moriarty's men.

Yes, of course! I forgot something:

Professor James Moriarty is a fictional character created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle who mainly served the purpose of being Sherlock Holmes archenemy, since he is a criminal mastermind.

A little fun fact: It is believed Moriarty was originally created only as a plot scheme to kill off Holmes.

With that out of the way, let's move on.

Both Moriarty and Holmes demonstrate great duality, as everything Holmes does, Moriarty is able to replicate, and the final battle is something that you will fondly remember for the rest of your life.

All this gives a wider range of speculation as to which will be the end of the story you are now immersed in, as it is more action-packed than the first one, but it tastefully conserves the feel of a mystery game, or rather, "A Game of Shadows".

The movie is over and you walk out of the movie theater, not as someone who just watched a movie, but as someone who leaves a friend's house; savoring the moment you just experienced, the jokes that were told, the memories shared and you find yourself excited about your next visit.

For those of you who, like me, went out of the theater looking for something cool to use your "Sherlockian" skills on, I present you with this simple cipher. Mind you, you should only try to decode it after you've seen the movie, or else, you would have knowledge of a major spoiler.

Without further ado, here it is:

UCFIBRALSEBMATSAOGHTNUEE!

Hint: Sherlock Holmes sometimes found himself unable to be on the grid.

If you solved it and want to show the world how awesome you are, post the answer in the comment section.