One of the busiest and most popular actors in Hollywood, is at it again. This time, Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man) is at it again solving yet another mystery with his partner Dr. John Watson (Jude Law from many, many, movies)in the second of which is destined to be at least a trilogy.

Sherlock Holmes is a smart man and a man of many disguises. A man who could blend in with a chair. But, lurking in the second of the series directed by Guy Ritchie, is Professor James Moriarty (Jared Harris from “Mad Men”), who equals detective Holmes’ intelligence with a slight edge and a lack of conscience.

Ritchie wastes no time getting to the action as within the first 10 minutes there is drama making headlines around the globe. Bombings taking place in Vienna and Strasbourg; the mysterious death of a Chinese drug trader and the death of an American steel magnate who also dies mysteriously. No one puts the pieces together in these deaths that are back to back. There has to be a common denominator.

Enter the great Sherlock Holmes and you have over two hours of action, crime and adventure-Sherlock Holmes style. It doesn’t take Holmes long to link Moriarty to the crimes. The two meet and Holmes is challenged to stop him and solve his other plots before they are carried out. All this is going on in the midst of Watson’s bachelor party. But all that’s elementary because Moriarty’s scheme can be the result of millions of deaths around the world.

Guy Ritchie (Snatch) takes the audience on beautiful scenic thrill rides through France, London, Germany and lands in Switzerland. Just as Holmes’ and Watson’s investigation is zeroing in on Moriarty, the cunning foe is always one step ahead and Holmes always knows what’s going on and explains everything in detail. What would a Sherlock Holmes movie be without dialogue? He also demonstrates great body gestures, but it’s his facial expressions that cannot be duplicated. Robert Downey Jr. is known for his body language through his career and it is something that cannot be put in a script.

While Holmes takes front and center using the background as part of his disguise, Watson lays low and plays it straight and the two actors coincide very well together. The fight scenes have Matrix written all over them and Holmes plays the fights scenes off in his head beforehand as time stands still while he thinks them out to the audience. Of course with the help of CGI, it all works. You have to give credit to cinematographer Phillippe Rousselot (Planet of the Apes) who was ambitiously consistent with his filming of the beautiful scenery even though the film does belong to Ritchie and screenwriters Michele and Kieman Mulroney.

Holmes meets with a gypsy fortune teller named Sim (Noomi Rapace) who unwitting, had a part in some of the crimes. Rapace (the orginal The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo) also has a role in Moriarty’s other evil schemes as the finale nears. I would liked to have seen more of her character as I felt she was outstanding but underused. However, Holme’s brother Mycroft, played by the wonderful Stephen Fry, takes his part to the hilt and steals every scene he’s in. Great casting call here even though it is a little on the goofy side for sleuth Holmes.

The first Sherlock Holmes (2009) grossed over 500 million world wide. This sequel of 2011, should prove to be a great Christmas crowd pleaser and with the slowed down fight scenes, quite fun and leave you in ‘check’.

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows opens in wide release on December, 16, 2011. It is rated PG-13 and runs a tad bit over two hours and look for a cameo from the first film. It’s worth a grin.

The end?

By Hustlin Bob Higgins 3 1/2 stars