Sherlock Holmes: Play in the Shadows

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Movie
German title Sherlock Holmes: Play in the Shadows
Original title Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
Country of production United States , Great Britain , Switzerland
original language English
Publishing year 2011
length 129 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
JMK 12
Rod
Director Guy Ritchie
script Michele Mulroney
Kieran Mulroney
production Joel Silver
Lionel Wigram
Susan Downey
Dan Lin
music Hans Zimmer
camera Philippe Rousselot
cut James Herbert
occupation
synchronization
chronology

←  Predecessor
Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (Original title: Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows , also known as Sherlock Holmes 2 ) is a British-American Adventure - Crime and the continuation of the film Sherlock Holmes . It had its world premiere on December 14, 2011 in Hong Kong; the film opened on December 16, 2011 in the United States and Great Britain. The official theatrical release in Germany was on December 22, 2011. Like its predecessor, Sherlock Holmes 2 is a pastiche and not a direct film adaptation or adaptation of one of Arthur Conan Doyle's stories.

action

In Strasbourg , a happening 1891 bombing . Shortly afterwards, at an auction in London, Sherlock Holmes saw Irene Adler give a Dr. Hoffmansthal presented a package. The detective can get a bomb contained in it out of the room just in time and take a letter from Hoffmansthal's possession. However, before Holmes can question him more closely, Hoffmansthal is killed and Adler disappears.

When Dr. Watson visits his friend in Baker Street , he learns that Holmes is on the trail of a series of attacks, which he suspects his archenemy Professor Moriarty is behind. During Watson's bachelorette party , Holmes meets with the gypsy Simza, to whom the letter was addressed. It turns out that the letter is from her brother Rene, who writes in it that he will soon die. The meeting is overheard by a Cossack and a chase ensues, in which the detective kills the Cossack, but Simza disappears.

Immediately after Watson's wedding, Holmes found out in a personal meeting with Moriarty that this eagle had been murdered with a tuberculosis poison and that it was now after Watson . That's why he follows his friend on a train on the way to their honeymoon . While fighting with Moriarty's men, he saves Mary by throwing her off the train while it is driving over a bridge. Holmes' brother Mycroft rescues the woman from the river and brings her to his home.

Holmes and Watson escape and travel to Paris, where they track down Simza. Together they find out that Simza's brother Rene belonged to a group of anarchists who are now forced to carry out attacks under pressure from Moriarty. In a wine cellar, the leader of the group reports of one last bomb and then shoots himself. Holmes suspects the bomb is in the opera , but it explodes in a neighboring hotel. However, the bomb only served as a diversion to enable Moriarty's henchman Sebastian Moran to carry out a fatal assassination attempt on weapons manufacturer Alfred Meinhard. Moriarty wants to start a world war in Europe in order to earn money with the Meinhards arms factory, which he has taken over. With the help of the gypsies, the two investigators and Simza ride through the forest to Heilbronn in Germany. While Watson sends a telegram , Holmes is overwhelmed by Moriarty in the factory. The professor tortures his persecutor and explains his plan. After a shooting with Moran, Watson manages to use a large cannon to destroy the watchtower on which Moran has holed up with a rifle. The tower falls on the building where the two archenemies are, and Holmes is saved. Together with Simza, Holmes and Watson flee under fire through a forest to a railway line and escape on a train. In the car, the doctor has to save the ailing detective's life with a medicine made by Holmes himself (an adrenal secretion which he gave to Watson at his wedding).

Holmes realizes that Moriarty is planning an attack at an international peace summit in Switzerland. At the meeting place he finds out that Rene - changed by Hoffmanstahl's plastic surgery - plays an ambassador to carry out the assassination attempt. With Simza's help, Watson overpowers Rene, who is subsequently murdered by Moran. Meanwhile, Holmes and Moriarty sit on the balcony playing chess and try to outdo each other intellectually. Holmes explains to Moriarty that he secretly exchanged his red notebook in Heilbronn and sent it to London . Inspector Lestrade and Mary use the information in London to ensure that the criminal loses his fortune. After the game of chess that Holmes wins, both go through the fight in their minds. Holmes comes to the conclusion that he cannot win the fight because of his shoulder injury and he will die either way. After Moriarty says that he wants to kill Watson and his wife after Holmes' death, Holmes pulls Moriarty (in logical consequence) into the Reichenbach Falls in front of Watson (who is just coming through the door) .

Some time later, Watson and Mary are busy planning their honeymoon when the doctor receives a package. It contains a breathing apparatus that Watson had previously seen at Mycroft and that Sherlock was overly interested in. Watson realizes that Holmes is still alive. While he is looking for the messenger, the detective, who was hiding in camouflaged clothes in the office, goes to the typewriter and adds a question mark to the words "The End" under Watson's report.

production

The film was directed by Lin Pictures and Silver Pictures produced and Warner Bros. distributed. So that he could take over the direction again and the break from the previous film was as short as possible, Guy Ritchie canceled directing the comic book adaptation Lobo . The shooting took place in Great Britain, France and Switzerland.

Cast and dubbing

role actor Voice actor
Sherlock Holmes Robert Downey Jr. Charles Rettinghaus
Dr. John Watson Jude Law Florian Halm
Professor James Moriarty Jared Harris Frank Glaubrecht
Madam Simza Heron Noomi Rapace Sandra Schwittau
Mycroft Holmes Stephen Fry Frank-Otto Schenk
Irene Adler Rachel McAdams Ranja Bonalana
Colonel Sebastian Moran Paul Anderson Peter Flechtner
Inspector Lestrade Eddie Marsan Stefan Krause
Mary Watson Kelly Reilly Alexandra Wilcke
Claude Ravache Thierry Neuvic Tobias Kluckert
Doctor Hoffmanstahl Wolf Kahler Bodo Wolf
Mrs. Hudson Geraldine James Marianne Gross

reception

Gross profit

On the opening weekend, the film grossed just under 40 million US dollars in the USA, which is over 20 million less than its predecessor. Overall, American revenues are around $ 187 million, 25 million less than the first part. Internationally, at $ 357 million, it was the third most successful film starring Robert Downey Jr. at the time, after Marvel's The Avengers and Iron Man 3 . In Germany, the box office income is over 15 million euros, which is equivalent to 20 million US dollars. That is 25 percent more than its predecessor. Globally, the sequel grossed nearly $ 544 million. This means that both of Guy Ritchie's Holmes films have grossed US $ 1.068 billion at box offices worldwide.

Reviews

Dorothee Krings from RP online sees the second Holmes film as "a successful sequel, just no more surprises". He offers "an occasion for fights, rapid persecutions, spectacular shootings". Ritchie had thereby "married the inventor thriller with the action cracker". She just doesn't like the clichéd portrayal of the gypsies.

Daniel Kothenschulte from the Frankfurter Rundschau recognizes “the return of another genre tradition: crime fiction. Louis de Funès […] and Peter Sellers […] have found a worthy successor in Robert Downey Jr. Even if his dandy detective has little more in common with the literary model than the name: In its own way, it is irresistible. "

In his review on Welt online, Hanns-Georg Rodek makes connections to the real First World War and particularly emphasizes the speed in the film: “Ritchie begins to vary the rhythm, to emancipate himself from the blockbuster pace, to mock his rules. To do this, he refines an invention from the first part, the so-called Holmes-o-Vision, the pure antithesis of the ever faster-cut brawls of modern action films ”.

The lexicon of international films said: “Second part of a film series that turns Arthur Conan Doyle's cult figure into a powerful and clever hero in an effects spectacle. A successful entertainment film as a dramaturgically attractive mixture of furious action and exalted comedy, also appealing thanks to the charismatic villain figure and a "case" that the hero can really grit his teeth with. "

The German Film and Media Assessment FBW in Wiesbaden awarded the film the rating "valuable".

References to Doyle's stories

The film has its own original plot and is therefore independent of the Holmes stories Arthur Conan Doyle . However, there are some allusions to the story The Final Problem : Right at the beginning, pages from Watson's report are shown with the heading “The Final Problem”. In addition, the name Reichenbach is mentioned early on. At the waterfall of the same name in Switzerland the climax of the dispute between Holmes and Moriarty comes. At the end of the film, Dr. Watson to see how he writes on the typewriter the line “ whom I shall ever regard as the best and the wisest man whom I have ever known ”. This is also the last line of the story The Final Problem .

The opium hell and Holmes-like disguise at the beginning of the film come from the story The Man with the Disfigured Lip . Mycroft and his habits were very precisely taken from The Greek Interpreter . The murder of Dr. Hoffmannsthal by means of a poisoned thorn from a blowpipe comes from the novel The Sign of the Four . There are also several references to the story The Empty House : It tells of the return of Sherlock Holmes after his alleged death at the Reichenbach Falls. Holmes also convicts a henchman Moriartys who planned an assassination attempt on Watson. As in the movie, the henchman is called Colonel Moran and is a sniper. Holmes outwits him with a doll placed by the window of the apartment, which Moran mistakenly shoots. Such a doll appears in the film when Watson first steps into the house at 221b Baker Street and is shot at by Holmes with a blowgun among the wild plants.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack for the film was produced and composed by Hans Zimmer . It was published in the US on December 13, 2011 and three days later in Germany. At several points in the film, Zimmer refers to well-known film themes. For example, during the scene in which Holmes, Watson and Simza ride to Germany in the forest, the play Two Mules for Sister Sara runs in the background. This was already part of Ennio Morricone's soundtrack for the Clint Eastwood film Ein Fressen für die Geier . In it, Shirley MacLaine rides a mule. Also takes rooms are as Holmes and Watson on the way to the opera, the famous theme of the Commendatore from the listed in the film opera Don Giovanni by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in advance, heard that a little later in the (almost) original.

Track list
No. title Artist Length (in min.)
1 I see everything Hans Zimmer 0:39
2 That Is My Curse (Shadows - Part 1) Hans Zimmer 1:52
3 Tick ​​Tock (Shadows - Part 2) Hans Zimmer 8:13
4th Chess (Shadows - Part 3) Hans Zimmer 7:34
5 It's So Overt It's Covert Hans Zimmer 3:19
6th Romanian wind Hans Zimmer 1:56
7th Did you kill my wife? Hans Zimmer 2:42
8th He's All Me Me Me Hans Zimmer 1:58
9 The Mycroft Suite Hans Zimmer 1:41
10 Don Giovanni A Cenar Teco Nicolaus Esterhazy Sinfonia & Hungarian Radio Chorus 4:03
11 Two Mules For Sister Sara The Movie Screen Orchestra 2:34
12 The trout Ian Bostridge & Julius Drake 3:23
13 Too Many foxes For you Hansel Hans Zimmer 1:47
14th The Red Book Hans Zimmer 4:00
15th Moral Insanity Hans Zimmer 1:31
16 Memories Of Sherlock Hans Zimmer 2:11
17th The end? Hans Zimmer 2:26
18th Romani Holiday (Antonius Remix) Hans Zimmer 5:39
Overall length: 57:28

continuation

It was originally planned that the sequel would appear in theaters on December 25, 2020. This date has been postponed one year to December 22, 2021. The main characters are said to be Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law again . According to Variety , Dexter Fletcher , known for Rocketman , has been hired as a director. Chris Brancato is to write the script .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Release certificate for Sherlock Holmes: Spiel im Schatten . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , June 2011 (PDF; test number: 128 335 K).
  2. ↑ Age rating for Sherlock Holmes: Spiel im Schatten . Youth Media Commission .
  3. ↑ Start dates. In: Internet Movie Database . Retrieved December 22, 2011 .
  4. ↑ a b Chris Tilly: Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows Preview. In: IGN. February 22, 2011, accessed December 22, 2011 .
  5. ↑ Guy Ritchie: Cancellation of "Lobo" for "Sherlock Holmes 2". (No longer available online.) In: filmstarts.de. January 27, 2010, archived from the original on May 30, 2013 ; Retrieved November 27, 2012 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.filmstarts.de
  6. ↑ locations. In: Internet Movie Database . Retrieved December 22, 2011 .
  7. ↑ Sherlock Holmes: Play in the Shadows. In: synchronkartei.de. German dubbing file , accessed on March 2, 2017 .
  8. ↑ Sherlock Holmes: Play in the Shadows on boxofficemojo.com.
  9. ^ Dorothee Krings: Sherlock Holmes prevents world war. In: RP online . December 21, 2011, accessed December 22, 2011 .
  10. ↑ Daniel Kothenschulte: Sherlock Humbug sends his regards. In: Frankfurter Rundschau . December 22, 2011, accessed December 22, 2011 .
  11. ↑ Hanns-Georg Rodek: Slow is the new fast. (No longer available online.) In: Welt online. December 21, 2011, archived from the original on December 1, 2016 ; Retrieved December 22, 2011 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.welt.de
  12. ↑ Sherlock Holmes: Play in the Shadows. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  13. ↑ Sherlock Holmes: Play in the Shadows on fbw-filmbassy.com
  14. ↑ Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows - Soundtrack. In: amazon.com. Retrieved December 22, 2011 .
  15. ↑ a b Sherlock Holmes: Game in the Shadows - Soundtrack. In: amazon.de. Retrieved December 22, 2011 .
  16. ↑ Movie Jones GbR, Potsdam Germany (R. Luke): Everything else? Dexter Fletcher on his Sherlock Holmes 3. Retrieved October 3, 2019 .
  17. ↑ Filmstarts, Daniel Fabian: No competitor for "Avatar 2": "Sherlock Holmes 3" is postponed for a whole year. Retrieved October 3, 2019 .
  18. ↑ Filmstarts, Annemarie Havran: "Sherlock Holmes 3" is finally picking up speed: The "Rocketman" director should fix it. Retrieved October 3, 2019 .