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Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows | 2011 | PG-13 | - 2.6.3
Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) and Dr. Watson (Jude Law) join forces once again to uncover an insidious international plot crafted by their fiercest adversary, Professor Moriarty (Jared Harris), who is conspiring to start a world war. Also with Noomi Rapace, Rachel McAdams and Stephen Fry. Directed by Guy Ritchie. [2:09]
SEX/NUDITY 2 - A woman gasps after she is surprised to see a fully nude man; we see the man's bare chest and back, a portion of his bare buttocks is strategically blocked, and the woman appears extremely uncomfortable as he turns around (his crotch is also strategically blocked by a stack of books). A man rips the blouse of another man dressed as a woman (we see the man's bare chest and back). We see shirtless men performing in a play; their bare chests are covered by body paint. We see nude statues displayed in an auction house.
► A man and a woman kiss passionately while the woman sits on the man's lap. A woman and a man share a passionate kiss, the woman reaches for the man's pocket and he grabs her hand and pushes it away. A man and a woman kiss in front of a crowd at a wedding. A man kisses a woman on the cheek.
► A man warns a woman that he knows she has succumbed to feelings for another man, and the man warns the woman that multiple other women had done the same. A man makes a remark about eating muffins that could be taken as sexual. Several people look curiously at two men dancing together.
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VIOLENCE/GORE 6 - Two men narrowly avoid a large explosion as they climb out the door and along the side of a moving train, another man tries to run after them, we see a grenade pin pulled as the man opens the train car, there is an explosion and the man is thrown out of the train; the man's crumpled body is seen on the ground next to the train tracks.
► A man fires a Gatling gun through the walls of a train, we see bullets spray throughout multiple train cars as two men lie on the ground to avoid being hit; one of the men on the ground fires a small handgun at a man behind the gunner, the cartridge of the bullet falls into a basket of grenades, and a massive explosion is seen as the train the men are riding on is cut in half (we see the two men unharmed sitting in the back end of a scorched and still-burning half-exploded train car).
► There is a massive explosion on the third floor of a building, the windows blow out and people in the crowded street shout; two men and a woman investigate the room, we see bodies littering the ground, including a man with a very visible and large bloody wound on his chest and a man remarks that a man seen with a bloody gunshot wound on his temple had been shot rather than killed in the explosion.
► A man shoots himself in the head as two men and a woman watch; the woman gasps in horror and we see the man's lifeless body (no blood is visible), still sitting in a chair. A soldier corners a man, pointing a large gun at him, and a sharpshooter from a distant building shoots the soldier, who falls to the ground in front of the man; the man runs away unharmed, and he and the sharpshooter exchange fire, but neither are hit by the other's bullets. A man describes a sharpshooter shooting a man, moments before an explosion, and we see a flashback of the bullet moving in slow motion leaving a gun, hitting a man in the temple and knocking him backward from the force. A man fires a few shots at several men on a stairwell, but no one appears to be struck; the man, a woman and a second man escape into an unseen room filled with dynamite as the other men race down the stairwell.
► A man digs a large hook into the shoulder of another man, and we see the man hoisted up by the hook while he winces in pain; blood is visible on the man's chest and hands as he is placed back on the ground, and the other man grabs the hook sticking out of the man's chest and clutches it tightly. A man walks through the rubble of a building after an explosion and finds a man with blood on a hook stuck in his chest; the man pulls the hook out causing the injured man to shout in pain. A man discovers a dead man propped against a building; we see a small dart in the dead man's chest, which the man removes (no blood is visible).
► During an extended chase scene, uniformed guards chase and shoot at several men and women: the men and women run through woods as bullets hit trees, small explosions are seen all around them and one man is struck by a bullet (the force causes him to fall forward), the people being chased fire back at the uniformed guards and one guard is shot and falls to the ground (no blood is visible); a man is struck by large splinters of wood from the exploding trees (we later see a man pull a large bloody staple from the man's bloody foot), the men and women escape onto a train (we see cuts and bloody noses on their faces) and one man is shot as he climbs onto the train but he collapses next to the train tracks as another man watches in horror.
► Four men surround a man and a woman after the man warns the woman that she is being followed, the woman instructs the four men to beat up the man and we see in slow motion the man's plan to attack the four men, punching and kicking each one until they fall to the ground: the man fights the four men, one of the four grabs the man's neck and slams him against a wall while the other three men alternate punching and kicking him and pinning him against a wall, the pinned man spits beans into the face of one of his attackers, who drops him as two police officers walk past, and the pinned man experiences a vision in slow motion of himself stabbing and beating the four men; moments later the man knocks another man unconscious, steals his knife, stabs another man, kicks the third man in the chest and grabs a gun from the fourth man and empties the bullets.
► An explosion from a massive cannonball rocks a tower and sends half of it crashing into another building; two men are buried in the rubble and another person that had been on the outside of the tower is presumed dead. A large explosion blasts through a storefront on a crowded street; we see men and women thrown to the ground from the force of the blast. As a man fires a gun with a fake bullet stuck into the cartridge, we see a large explosion engulfing the man, and four other men behind him, in flames.
► Two men experience visions which we see in slow motion: we see the men punching and kicking each other until one is shoved over the ledge of a building on a tall cliff, the two men punch each other and grab onto one another as a third man approaches, the two men are thrown over the side of the balcony and we see the two men sailing toward the bottom of a cliff as a man's voiceover explains that a man's body had never been found; we see people gathering at a funeral, but later see that the man who was presumed dead is unharmed.
► A man leaps from a ceiling and he and another man fight: the attacker knocks the man to the ground and is about to shoot him when a woman throws a knife into the attacking man's chest and he falls to the ground, but moments later removes a wooden vest and reveals that the knife had not injured him. A woman confronts her brother, she asks him not to shoot anyone, and he ignores her, firing a shot into a crowd as another man tackles him; the bullet misses and the man is carried away kicking and shouting by two guards.
► A man appears to be stitching an unseen wound on his own stomach; the wound is obscured by the man's bloody shirt. A man's head rests on a woman's lap, his face is bloody and he stops breathing until another man beats his chest and administers a shot of adrenaline; the man awakens unharmed. A man lying on the ground seizes, another man shouts that he is a doctor and can help him, he removes a dart from the man's torso, licks it and spits, telling a woman that the dart was poisonous; we see foam at the man's mouth as he dies in the woman's arms. A man is seen with a bloody cut on his temple and a black eye. A drop of blood is seen leaving a sword. A man later experiences a flashback of seeing blood on the ground. A man gives another man a handkerchief with dried blood on it and we see the man inhale deeply in the bloody handkerchief.
► Men angrily choke a man dressed as a woman and a man ask him if he killed his wife; he tells the man that his wife is safe after he calculated throwing her off a moving train over a river, and the two men fight and wrestle one another (one man is pinned to the ground as the other man attempts to punch him and get him into a headlock).
► A man chases another man and a woman through a crowded parlor, we see the two men catch one another and exchange punches and one of the men holds a knife to the other man's face but he pulls away before being stabbed. A man throws another man through a wall and the man stands up unharmed; one of the men wraps a cord around the other's waist and punches a woman in the face (we later see the woman with a bloody nose), the woman pushes the man out a window, the other man follows and they land unharmed in a grain bin.
► In slow motion we see a man envision his attack on another man: he uses an umbrella to strike the man in the arm, face, crotch, stomach and back as he narrates, as though he is making an omelet and is using the man's body parts as cooking instructions.
► In a train, a man peeks his head out a door and we hear three shots fired at him, the man shoots back and then hides with a woman in a train car, and a man dressed as a woman enters the train car and tosses the woman out the door of the moving train; she lands in a river, unharmed and is rescued moments later by a man. A man lunges at another man and a woman in the dark; they scuffle, punch and shove one another around a train car until the woman draws a gun and throws the attacker out the door of the moving train.
► A man explains to another man that a woman had fallen ill and as he explains that the woman had died of a very sudden bout of tuberculosis we see a flashback of a woman drinking tea (presumably poisonous) and stumbling over; she coughs and appears to be dead and a handkerchief with a small amount of blood is seen in her hand. We hear shouting as a man knocks a pile of money onto the floor; the man later stumbles into a room and tells another man he had gotten in a fight and we see a small amount of dried blood under his nose. A man punches another man as he tries to take his scarf; a man watching opens his jacket to reveal a large knife. A man kicks another man as they climb along the side of a train. Two men shove their way past multiple men backstage at a playhouse; one of the men grabs another man and throws him to the ground.
► Two men, tied to one another on a long rope are encouraged by another man to fight; one of the men wields a large knife and the other throws a chicken in the man's face, the rope is cut and the two men escape unharmed.
► A man warns people that a curtain is on fire; we see smoke fill the room as the people quickly exit. Two men discuss the strength of a handheld machine gun and one of the men draws and cocks the gun and shoves it in the face of the other man.
► Two men place a cloth over a man's mouth, he passes out moments later and we see him wake up with his hands bound after the two men are instructed to take the man to "the surgery room." A man in a suit camouflaged to blend into a room shoots a man in the back and then chest with a dart.
► A man opens a wooden box to expose a bomb: a woman sitting next to him is surprised when another man takes the box and places it in a sarcophagus, which dampens the explosion, sending up a puff of smoke that causes the man to cough. A man dressed as a woman sprays a puff of explosive powder into a small room filled with men and they cough.
► A server spins around to avoid running into a man walking through a restaurant. A man appears to try to grab something from a man's jacket; the man shoves him away. A man slaps a tray out of a young man's hands and a group of people turn and stare at the sound.
► We see a dog lying on the ground, struggling to breathe; a man explains to the dog's owner that it must have eaten a poisonous plant, the man then plunges an adrenaline needle into the dog, it stands up unharmed and the owner asks the man how many times he is going to try to kill his dog.
► A woman shouts at a man. A newspaper boy shouts, "Bombing in Strasburg" as he sells papers with a large headline describing a storefront explosion. A man's voiceover explains that two countries are "At each other's throats" after a series of bombings by militant groups are blamed on the other country. A man warns that he will kill another man and his wife. A man warns a woman that her next client is an assassin planning to kill her. A man warns a group of uniformed guards, "You're dead" if they allow a man to escape. A man warns two men and a woman that two men are in danger of being shot by a sniper. A man warns another man that they are "about to be violated" as the two men walk into a gypsy camp; one of the men has a running commentary about things being stolen from him. A woman tells two men that she does not believe her brother would kill himself. A woman asks two men why a group of people would want to kill her. A man explains to two men and a woman that a man is trying to make himself responsible for bombings that have been taking place in different countries. A man asks if another man had planted a bomb that had exploded. A man tells another man that he is trying to cause a massive war because he owns a large portion of various supply companies. A man poses a question to another man about murders and bombings being linked back to a man. A woman asks two men to retrieve her brother from a building unharmed. A woman tells a man that another man is ill and in need of the man's care. A doctor remarks to another man that he appears manic and that he should have brought a sedative. A man remarks to another man that a man had been a plastic surgery guinea pig and would have scars. A man instructs a woman to look for scars behind another man's ears that would prove he was a plastic surgery guinea pig. A man tells a woman that another man might be wearing "glass lenses" that would make his eyes sore and we see a man blinking his eyes and wincing. A man tells two men and a woman that finding a man will save someone's life and "prevent the collapse of western civilization." A man comments to a woman that if he tackles the incorrect man in a room that he could "start a war." A woman asks a man why he has a gun in the waist of his pants and the man tells the woman, "Out of habit." Two men have a hypothetical conversation about marriage being the end of a man's life, the man remarks that he did not want to die alone, and the other man responds that he would rather die alone than suffer forever in purgatory. A man tersely asks a woman if she has a goat to "de-worm." A man nervously remarks that he does not trust horses.
► A man examines an explosive that appears to be filled with a liquid; the man licks a tube and places it back into the explosive. A man licks a red stain on a paper after another man offers that the stain could be blood and the man remarks that it is wine.
► A woman gives a man a tray containing live mice and tells the man that she cannot feed the mice to a snake. We see a flipbook of an illustrated man being eaten by a shark.
LANGUAGE 3 - 7 mild obscenities, name-calling (man of ill repute, dingy bird, verging on psychotic, manic, slow-witted, pounce, Shirley No Mates, mean, fool lead astray, too fragile, degrading, smells like a fantastic gypsy, dangerous at both ends and crafty in the middle, selfish, same sort, incept inspector), exclamations (bloody, shut up), 3 religious exclamations.
SUBSTANCE USE - A man gives a dying man an adrenaline shot (he is revived), a man gives a dying dog an adrenaline shot, a man uses an oxygen inhaler and tells two men and a woman that he enjoys the feeling, a doctor tells a man that he should have brought him a sedative, a man appears to be manic as a woman explains to another man that he had been on a diet of "coffee, tobacco and cocoa leaves," and a man mentions that another man is involved in the opium trade. Two men appear to be intoxicated when they are seen dancing wildly after we see one of the men and a woman drink from a bottle, men and women drink liquor, champagne and wine, a man drinks a glass of embalming fluid, a man makes a remark about embalming fluid and drinks a glass of liquor, a man appears intoxicated and stumbles drunkenly and he is seen the next morning hung-over, a man "reads" a woman's fortune and mentions that she drinks to forget a problem and a man tells a woman that he smells vodka. Throughout the movie we see a man smoking a pipe, a man smokes cigarettes, a man orders a cigar at a restaurant and we see another man smoking the cigar and we see people in the background smoking pipes.
DISCUSSION TOPICS - World War I, international relations, gypsies, the Roma, deception, marriage, friendship, loyalty, mystery, revenge.
MESSAGE - Uncovering a mystery can be difficult work. Remakes of popular literature are very popular.
CAVEATS
Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.
We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.
Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.
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support us
PLEASE DONATE
We are a totally independent website with no connections to political, religious or other groups & we neither solicit nor choose advertisers. You can help us keep our independence with a donation.
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Become a member of our premium site for just $2/month & access advance reviews, without any ads, not a single one, ever. And you will be helping support our website & our efforts.
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
We welcome suggestions & criticisms -- and we will accept compliments too. While we read all emails & try to reply we do not always manage to do so; be assured that we will not share your e-mail address.