Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows gets a needlessly busy trailer.

It is no secret that I was not a fan of the marketing campaign for the first Sherlock Holmes.  But that action-packed "EXTREME" campaign was a clever disguise for what actually turned out to be a relatively traditional and character driven Holmes adventure.  So on one hand, I should give this trailer the benefit of the doubt, as the previous film was one of those rare pictures where the movie was far better than the trailer.  On the other hand, this is a pointlessly hectic and frantic piece, full of context-less action and would-be incident.  This is a sequel to a pretty popular original, a film that grossed $525 million worldwide despite going head-to-head with Avatar over Christmas 2009 (on a $90 million budget no less).  Point being, the marketing department should have a little confidence in their franchise.  The ingredients worked well the first time around, and the addition of Noomi Rapace and Jared Harris (as Professor James Moriarty) in lieu of bigger names shows a degree of trust in the storytelling.  Thus the nonstop gunplay and unfortunate emphasis on a cross-dressing Robert Downey Jr. feel desperate where no desperation should be felt.  Frankly, the biggest obstacle that this film will likely have to deal with (especially if Paramount moves Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol away from the December 16th release date) will be the snobby comparisons to the terrific BBC miniseries Sherlock that premiered in the US late last year.  I happen to think both this Guy Ritchie series and the BBC modernization are fine adaptations of a classic fictional character.  May they both be artistic and commercial successes.  The game will be afoot on December 16th and, as always, we'll see.  Your thoughts below...

Scott Mendelson