'Sherlock Holmes' Sequel Is 'More Sophisticated'

'We all raised our game, creatively,' director Guy Ritchie tells MTV News of 'Game of Shadows.'
By Kara Warner

Robert Downey Jr. in "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows"
Photo: Warner Bros

If you've caught a trailer for the upcoming "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows," which hits theaters Friday, you might have noticed that there is a lot going on. Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) and Watson (Jude Law) have carried their bromance over from the 2009 original, with Holmes having issues with Watson's pending marriage and his wily love interest Irene Adler (Rachel McAdams).

Work-wise, the curiously successful Holmes and Watson duo now have to contend with a mysterious new female character (Noomi Rapace) and a formidable and familiar future supervillain, Professor Moriarty (Jared Harris).

When MTV News caught up with Downey and director Guy Ritchie, we asked them to explain what new excitement "Game of Shadows" offers that we didn't see in the first film.

"I think it's a superior product, and I'm very tough on these sorts of things," Downey said. "I think we return to one of the great original face-offs-with-a-supervillain stories in Arthur Conan Doyle's lexicon, and I think that it's a little bit more thoughtful. I think the female roles are much more central. It's a more nicely balanced bit of entertainment."

Ritchie admitted that the success of the first film meant he had pleased audiences enough that he could make this movie for himself in a way, zeroing in on his sensibilities and what he likes in an action film.

"We all raised our game, creatively. Rob and the rest of the team took it pretty seriously. We think we're onto something here, and we don't want to take it for granted," Ritchie explained. "We try to give you a more sophisticated plot and more sophisticated action. All in all, we tried to basically put this film on 'roids."

Check out everything we've got on "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows."

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