 Image Belongs To Owner/Owners. Dark Shadows Review
By Lisa Bailey
Comedy, Fantasy, 113min, 12A.
Tim Burton and his Motley crew (Depp and Bonham-Carter) return in this very campy film remake of the 1966-1971 American supernatural TV drama series “Dark Shadows”. I did read quite a few rather lack lustre reviews regarding this film prior to me setting foot in the sticky floored cinema so I was anxious, I was apprehensive, and I was gutted that the cinema was half filled with people under the recommended age restriction who would surely have no comprehension of who the magnificent Alice Cooper is. At least they were here to experience a part of the macabre Burton Empire, and doing so with a relatively open mind.
 In the year 1752 Joshua (Ivan Kaye) and Naomi Collins (Susanna Cappellaro) set sail from Liverpool, England, with their young son Barnabas (Justin Tracy) to start a new life in North America; they set up a small but successful fishing port in Maine called Collinsport and over the course of two decades Barnabus (Johnny Depp) becomes the very rich, powerful and gorgeous master of Collinwood Manor. That is until Barnabus breaks the heart of one of the family’s servants – Angelique Bouchard (Eva Green) – who spitefully curses the Collins family; her first act of revenge is to kill the heads of the household. As Barnabus grieves the loss of his parents he falls in love with Josette du Pres (Bella Healthcote) causing a scorned Angelique to place a spell on Josette, forcing her to leap from Widow’s Peak cliffs to her death. Unable to consider an existence without his love, Barnabus leaps too only for the curse to keep him alive on the rocks below…transformed into a new form. Angelique has condemned him to a fate worse than death as a blood thirsty vampire (no – not the sparkling type!).
Angelique convinces the townsfolk that Barnabus is a monster and leads an angry mob in burying him alive chained in a coffin in the woods. It is two centuries before he is freed, to a changed town, and ultimately a changed world…one which still contains one scorned witch, a hope at a new love and a second chance with his very dysfunctional family (plus one alcoholic age obsessed psychiatrist).
Depp’s pasty faced Barnabus is reminiscent of the doe eyed Edward Scissorhands in the early scenes as he attempts to adapt to the new surroundings (which also includes the introduction of a blast from the past in the form a Troll doll!) with all the mistrust of someone betrayed. Everything is obviously “the work of the devil” or witchcraft; but beneath the farcical endeavours of Barnabus to fit in to the new culture is the knowledge that all that matters, really matters, is family. Their honour, their wellbeing, their love. He finds his relatives to be odd and unruly; especially young David Collins (Gulliver McGrath) who leads a life that is the mirror of his adored upbringing. He sees a family fragmented, broken, and resolves to remedy that.
Bonham-Carter’s character is very much underrated and for the most part is hidden from the lime-light. The doctor is the epitome of vanity and self-loathing; she doesn’t want to grow old, she wants to stay young and beautiful forever, and it appears that the clear confliction between this inner turmoil and her externally projected “feminism” is the reason she hides behind her (evident) alcohol addiction. You see her already flawed character dramatically fall from grace, suffering a similar fate to the creature she envies.
Eva Green by contrast appears to have the darkest of the characters to portray, and she is exceptional (which has nothing to do with the red dress scene!). Clearly infatuated with Barnabus, she resolves to possess him (not love him) – when he doesn’t reciprocate her feelings Congreve’s oft used (usually paraphrased) quote "Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned, nor hell a fury like a woman scorned” comes to mind. Externally she radiates beauty and perfection, internally she is poisoned by the grief for a love that could never be. She wants him to hurt physically as much as she has done emotionally. When Barnabus returns resolving to save his family’s reputation and business, she presses the auto-destruct button.
The other characters play such minor roles that it is difficult to gauge their personalities or to empathise with them. There are certain aspects of the story that are fleetingly mentioned as though mere gossip, but which are rather pertinent to the plotline (Moretz’s character is a good example here) – I do wish that they had been elaborated on. If you are a stickler for vampire mythology I would advise caution too as many of the common rules are not truly adhered to, but I am assuming this is due to the actual concept of the film and in cases can add comedy value. The visuals and costumes were incredible and intricate; it is not possible for me to fault the production crew.
This film is definitely a marmite variety; you will either love it or hate it. Personally I enjoyed it despite its flaws and found myself thinking “bring on ‘Frankenweenie’!”
5/10
Image Belongs To Owner|Owners.
Written by Kris Fielding.
Here at The Cult Den we love or zombies, if I were to wage on an actual zombie apocalypse happening, I’d certainly put the money on us at The Cult Den being triumphant whilst stylizing some killer zombie takedowns, this being the type of zombies in The Walking Dead of course, anything like the Rage in Danny Boyles 28 Days Later, yeah maybe not so much, scary stuff.
Now as much as anyone I have a great respect to the Resident Evil Series, something about being 8 and playing on the first PlayStation warped my fragile little mind – yes I know they were certificate 15, most parents at the time of the videogame graphics rise were unsuspecting of the realism back in the day, and yes my parents didn’t probably know what I got after chipping the old PlayStation, just look at the amount of kids that at 13 realized that you could get your money back from a whore just by getting out and bashing her head in and hiding for 5 minutes to escape the 2 star notoriety – now the down side to most of the Resident evil Series was movement and the fact most was less action based and more strategy based, to more running around firing madly on a loose targeting system whilst finding keys green herbs and ammo, it remained more or less this way until 5 in which you could run… effectively, at a price of course, the zombies and crimson heads could run too.
When I heard that Operation Raccoon City was Team Third Person Shooter, I was intrigued none the less; so I’ll talk about the graphics, are a force to be reckoned with however the lickers at close and when killed on the roof kind of just drop, funny and kind of realistic it could be improved there, then again you don’t want to be to close to those things anyway.
The attention to detail particularly for example in a hospital the lights flickering giving you temporary strobe vision definitely makes it tense although you can shoot the lights out I hoped there would be an option to equip a torch to the riffle (or I haven’t find out how yet.) As for the gameplay, the movement is fantastic really captures moving through alleys and corridors clutching and assault riffle in the shadows well indeed. Kind of like GTA in some ways as far as walking whilst aiming and when sprinting it is similar to Resident Evil 5 but with the new targeting engine seems improved overall.
The plot follows Umbrella Security Delta Team Assigned certain covert operations and missions during the same time span as Resident Evil 2 & Nemesis, so expect a few memories and familiar moment told from a different perspective, now the story in non-canon so sort of a re telling plus mild play in the story allows a decision that changes the story none the less makes the game that little bit more special. I’ve played the game personally through once making one decision at the end, and currently making my way through on a higher difficulty to inevitably make the other decision to see the different outcome. As you are a team, of the 12 playable characters, there are 4 selected to play through mission, 3 controlled by COM or if online your friends, I have yet to try the online gameplay but I imagine to be fun with friends, but not having a stranger who plays so much you may as well just stand by. When offline the characters have certain perks like its always handy to have the medic of the squad equipped for obvious reasons, even though a lot of the time you have to be careful with heeling yourself as in times of need she may be dead of not near you to heal.
The difficulty, the game like most Resident Evil are pretty tough more particularly with all higher than zombie on the enemies list, to that there are strategic ways to take each out not without difficulty in itself, you bump into Special Ops throughout, the only living enemy other than specific characters, and the likes of Lickers to Tyrants and Nemesis. Most fall to the very basic rule of zombies – Aim for the Head – and when in doubt fire works just as good, and commonly in a lot of the situations RUN! Run you ass off.
In all I really enjoyed this game start to finish was all good, correct difficulty makes it not and easy game to beat quickly, then again I often feel cheated when I get a game and its done in 6 hours, on the normal difficulty probably took me 7-8 hours over a few days, once mastered could most likely do a single sitting at about 6 hours, there are quite a few bad reviews about this game on the net a lot of the game magazines didn’t seem to like it that much however, accept it’s a spin of and not classed in the same line and the Resident Evil Series and you shouldn’t be disappointed after all, Resident Evil 6 is released later on this year in October.
7.5/10 A great zombie killing spree along with past memories.
 Image Belongs To Owner|Owners. Written by Will Barber.
The Doctor and Romana are called to Cambridge - 1979 by an old friend of The Doctor, Professor Chronotis. It seems that he “accidentally” brought a book back with him from Gallifrey. It is not just any book; it is one of the artefacts created by Rassilon in the old days when the universe was young. The Doctor, Romana and K9 must find the book before Skagra, a power crazed scientist, finds it. The book has a special power in that it can lead the person who possesses it to Shada, an ancient prison planet of The Time Lords.
Shada has had a rather turbulent history. It was eventually released (or the parts that were filmed of it) on VHS in 1992. Next, it was turned into an audio drama/webcast by Big Finish but instead of Baker’s Doctor it starred Paul McGaan. Now, Shada has, after thirty three years, got the novelisation treatment.
Gareth Roberts is one of the best writers the series has produced. From The Unicorn and The Wasp to Invasion of the Bane, Roberts has written many great books and stories of the series. His sense of humour prevails throughout and makes what could be a dangerous situation lighter hearted. Adams’s rapier wit (taken by Robert’s from Adam’s original Script) includes dialogue such as: “Oh, it’s just the undergraduates. I’ve tried to have it banned.” Combine this with Robert’s fabulous mentioning of rogue Timelords from the shows past and present, from The Corsure (The Doctor’s Wife, 2011) to the Rani (Mark of The Rani, 1985, Time and The Rani, 1987, Dimensions in Time, 1993.) and even a mention of Adam’s classic book series The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy means the book is a joy for a science fiction fan to read. Some may find the fact that he mentions several Timelords to be a tad self-pleasing on Robert’s part but I find it delightful. To hear Professor Chronotis mention his love of shops in the same words as the Tenth Doctor just makes that part of me jump and down with joy. Yes, it’s sad I know, but aren’t we all in the fan world?
Tom Baker’s Doctor is brought to life effortlessly by Roberts. Adam’s portrayal of the fourth Doctor was excellent. Subsequently, by using the original scripts, Robert’s increases his already (his previous books for the Missing Adventures range back in the 90s.) excellent written version of Baker’s Doctor to its heights. From facing off Skagra, early on in the book, to the end of the book, you see that Robert’s version of Baker has improved slowly over the years from his first effort, The Romance of Crime. It is so truthful that it now sounds like Baker is reading the dialogue. Marvellous is the best word to sum up The Fourth Doctor in Shada.
In the following quotation, we are allowed into Skagra’s mind. Robert’s depiction of the mad scientist’s mind is believable as his thoughts are violent but bordering on the hysterical which gives it a touch of humour.A tiny pulse twitched uncontrollably over Skagra’s right temple. He tried to suppress the violence that surged up in his mind at this thought. He saw The Doctor being pushed off a very, very high cliff, crushed by an avalanche of enormous boulders, torn limb from limb by a pack of rabid dogs, bloodied shreds of scarf flying in all directions as his death screams echoed and echoed and echoed and-Shada quotation, Part Five, Chapter 54, Page 296.
Shada is one of the best Doctor Who novels of recent time. It has wit, romance, action and a big dollop of adventure. Gareth Roberts has done what many lesser writers would struggle to do: bring back a lost story; give it a dash of his own creativity but still keep the genius of Douglas Adams at the core of it..
 Image Belongs To The BBC! Written by Will Barber.
The Doctor: You — are — my — enemy! — and I am yours! You are everything I despise. The worst thing in all creation. I've defeated you. Time and time again, I've defeated you. I sent you back into the Void. I saved the whole of reality from you. I am the Doctor, and you are the Daleks!
Winston Churchill calls The Doctor and Amy to London, 1940 in the middle of the Blitz. Churchill was worried about the new weapons one of his scientists have created but now he is assured that they will win him the war. The Doctor discovers that the new weapons are, in fact, the Daleks. They have a plan and this time they need The Doctor.
I will admit that I was not the biggest fan of Victory of The Daleks on first viewing back in 2010. This meant that when I came to re watch it two years later, I was slightly nervous that I would still not like it. Watching it a second time, I discovered that it was really very good. The acting, effects, plot and music were much better than I remembered them. This just goes to show, that the memory cannot be relied upon to judge episodes by. I must note though, that the part with the Spitfighters attacking the Dalek ship does still annoy me slightly as it seems more science fantasy than science fiction.
Matt Smith portrays The Doctor wonderfully in this episode. Normally a new Doctor has time to settle into his new body before getting pitted against the Daleks. (Tennant didn’t face them until the end of his first series.) However, Smith after only two episodes was pushed in at the deep end. He works well with Gattis’s great script. In this story, Smith seems almost Pertweean, particularly during his attacks on the Daleks. This works well for the story as Smith becomes quite action hero like throughout the episode but never lacks that Smith charm. We experience the Smith charm mainly in the scenes with Churchill, which gives some nice comedy parts which without them would have made the story far grimmer.
Ian McNeice is believable as the grumbling, Winston Churchill. The character goes well with Smith’s Doctor so much so that they seem to bounce off each other. McNeice’s performance soars during the scene when Churchill and Amy find Bracewell about to commit suicide. McNeice looks like Churchill and sounds like him. It is a very believable portrayal.
Murray Gold’s theme music is outstanding particularly when the Spitfighters attack the Dalek space ship and when The Doctor is rushing out of the TARDIS to stop Bracewell from exploding. This is another aspect of the episode which makes it so memorable.
Victory of the Daleks is a brilliant episode and it seems better on a second viewing then on first viewing. With sharp witty dialogue, great acting, nice effect and a great score, Victory of the Daleks stands as one of the Dalek’s true victories.
Images belong to Warner Bros/DC Comics.
Image Belongs To Marvel Studios.
As we have done with Iron Man 3, we here at The Cult Den are going to have a crack at trying to imagine on your behalf the plot of Thor 2. What we know so far is that Kenneth Branagh has been replaced in the director’s hot seat by Game Of Thrones and Sopranos guru Alan Taylor. We know that Chris Hemsworth is back in the title role, and that Tom Hiddleston is again Loki. Idris Elba returns as Heimdall, and there is a reappearance of Natalie Portman as Jane Foster.
With Loki playing such a huge part of Avengers Assemble, I can see him taking a slightly more back seat role in Thor 2. That said I still envisage a battle for the throne of Asgard again but this time with the help of The Enchantress.
Asgardian Sorceress Amora is The Enchantress and is accompanied on her adventures by Jotunheimian warrior Skurge The Executioner. In the comics The Enchantress has helped Loki try for the throne, by seducing Thor and trying to kill Jane Foster, and it’s this story I would love to see. A bigger involvement for Natalie Portman who is a fine actress would be wonderful in the sequel, and seeing a human helping Thor against a new foe leaves excitement in my heart.
Also from the comics we know The Enchantress is a minion of Mandarin, who elsewhere on our site we have already discussed his inclusion in Iron Man 3, so there is another opportunity for cross over's ahead of Avengers 2.
As usual I will probably be very wrong, but one can have hope cant they?
 Image Belongs To CLINT Magazine. Written by Paul Bowler
When I was lucky enough to be given the chance to review the first issue of CLiNT Magazines second volume for The Cult Den, I have to say I was more than a little excited by what was about to read. For those of you who may be new to this magazine by Titan Publishing, CLiNT is the brainchild of Kick Ass creator Mark Millar: featuring 100 pages of wall-to-wall Millarworld properties such as Supercrooks and The Secret Service, along with Frankie Boyle’s reality bending Rex Royd, as well as showcasing the astonishing Death Sentence by Montynero and Mike Dowling. If that wasn’t enough this issue also features a 20th Anniversary celebration of Roman Dirge’s haunting little dead girl Lenore, Who Is CLiNT investigates a self proclaimed vigilante, and Vern’s Badass Cinema 101 gives an overview of movie martial artist Marko Zaror.
 Image Belongs To CLINT Magazine. Before we dive into the first issue of Supercrooks let us first cast our eye over this issues Millarworld Movie Round-Up, as CLiNT goes behind the scenes to talk with Mark Millar about what ideas he is developing with Director Nacho Vigalondo’s for the Supercooks movie which is already in the pipeline and due to begin shooting at the end of this year. Millar talks in detail about some of the locations he has chosen in Tenerife for the Spanish half of the story were the super powered criminals audacious heist will be take place. While Supercrooks reads more like a cross between Oceans 12 and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, following the antics of a down-on-their-luck rogues gallery Super Villains as they plan the heist of their careers, the premise of Mark Millar’s American Jesus - also currently in development - is a much darker affair charting the story of an everyday Midwestern kid who discovers that he is the resurrection of Christ on Earth.
This fascinating interview with Millar details the intricate creative process behind both projects, as well as the story behind the creation of his own production company, and his unparalleled dedication to ensure his work makes as smooth a transition as possible to the big screen. If anything this interview alone, coupled with the international success of Kick Ass and the box office potential of Supercrooks and American Jesus, proves that Mark Millar has already more than earned his “swimming pool” from Hollywood.
Robbing a jewellery store in the middle of New York City on the morning of your wedding is probably not the best of ideas, add to that you are about to pull of a heist in the middle of a city bursting at the seams with superheroes, and you have a sure fire certainty that you’ll get busted. Needless to say the first issue of Supercooks opens in the middle of the worst day of Johnny Bolt’s life, as he and his team of super powered criminals flee a botched jewellery store robbery only to have their planned escape route on a rush hour subway train brought to a bone crunching halt by one of New York’s most brutally efficient superheroes - The Guardian.
After serving five years in Superprison Max, Johnny returns to find his psychic fiancé, Kasey, working in a diner to make ends meet. Their initially bittersweet reunion is cut short when Johnny’s cellmate - and fellow bank robber - Carmine collapse outside the diner after his failed attempt to scam the ruthless Salamander’s casino in Vegas. The Super Villain has given Carmine just four weeks to repay his debt in kind to the sum of one hundred million dollars, leaving the elderly con man no choice but to turn to Johnny for help. The impossible task gives Johnny the impetus he needs to get his life back on track. He resolves to help Carmine, but realizing that his own electrical powers won’t cut it anymore in a city full of superheroes, Johnny calls up his old friends to help out as he sets his sights on Spain and pulling off heist of his career in a country without superheroes.
 Image Belongs To CLINT Magazine. Mark Millar’s Supercrooks opens with a tightly plotted first issue that is flawlessly realized by Leinil Yu’s superb artwork. It will be interesting to see how Johnny Bolt will get his team of super-powered thieves to work together and hone their powers for Johnny’s audacious plan to succeed. It’s a wonder no one has taken the successful template of the Ocean’s movies and mixed it with a loveable rogue’s gallery of super villains before. This issue gets Supercrooks off to a terrific start and is sure to captivate readers with its colourful characters and inventive plot.
The following interview with Rex Royd writer Frankie Boyle (Best know in the Uk for his outlandish and sometimes shocking stand-up comedy) and artist Mike Dowling introduces us to the bizarre world of Rex Royd - a man created as Earth’s antibody to fight the alien superhero Proteoman; festooned by a society living in a faux 1950’s urban reality. Indeed, the comic book which this interview directly precedes is a complex and multi faceted story that sees Kid Detective, a completely screwed up 90’s superhero sidekick watching reality TV in the hope of finding some crack in the stagnant culture of humanity. Dowling’s pencils bring a stark ambiguity to Boyle’s ground breaking epic, giving the violence and dark humour prevalent in the augmented reality of Rex Royd an uncanny quality far and above anything you may have seen before.
 Image Belongs To CLINT Magazine. Rex Royd is about as far removed from linear storytelling as you can get, as events unfold like the scrambling code of an anarchic version of The Matrix. He is a character that has featured prominently in CLiNT Magazines previous volume, and it is fitting that he should be part of this relaunch issue. This is a series that isn’t afraid to shock or push the boundaries, and whilst it may not be the most easily accessible comic book around, it isn’t necessary to understand or follow all the complexities of Rex Royd to enjoy this mind trip into his warped universe of twisted identities and ethics. Approach Rex Royd with an open mind and you will be enticed by a world of jet black comedy and mind-blowing sci-fi, it might not be one you wholly understand, but you’ll certainly have a damn good time trying.
The 20th Anniversary of Roman Dirge’s immensely successful black comedy series Lenore gives us a brief sojourn into the madcap world a little zombie girl. The Harbinger Chop presented in this issue of CLiNT is an excellent example of this little dead girls ghoulishly macabre adventures. With issue #5 of Lenore now available and #6 soon to come - along with hardcover and digital collections - there has never been a better time to check out this critically acclaimed series by Roman Dirge.
This relaunch issue of CLiNT also includes the first issue of Mark Millar’s other new series: The Secret Service, the opening pages of which throws us headlong into the action where the attempted kidnapping of Mark Hamill in Switzerland goes disastrously wrong. The resulting chaos which ensues ends with the hilarious death of both the Star Wars actor and the Secret Agent sent to rescue him as they plummet over a cliff top to their deaths on a snow-mobile. As the scene then shifts to Peckham in South London we join Gary who is out joyriding with his mates when the car they’ve stolen gets chased by the Police and crashes. Gary’s downtrodden mother, Sharon, then has to call on her brother - who works in the secret service - to help get her son out of trouble again. But Uncle Jack’s homecoming also proves to be an unwelcome reminder of the life he thought he’d long since left behind, and after hearing a few home truths from his sister, Jack decides to forgo his current investigation into the abductions of several cast and crewmembers from various cult Sci-Fi films and TV shows, and resolves to help his wayward nephew realize his potential and make a better life for himself.
The Secret Service sees Mark Millar’s celebrated writing teamed with the exceptional talents of Watchmen artist Dave Gibbons and together they create an intricate story that is by turns incredibly funny, as in the case with the opening kidnapping sequence and the brief interlude where Jack discusses the merits of JJ Abrams new Star Trek movie with one of his superiors, but one which also provides an equally stark contrast between Jack’s secret world of espionage and the tough inner city upbringing that has inexorably shaped Gary’s descent into petty crime. As we have come to expect from Millar, Gary and Jack are both well rounded and wholly believable characters, and set against the urban sprawl of Gibbons shadowy London backdrop, The Secret Service succeeds in intertwining their fates and it will be fascinating to see where Millar‘s tale of high-flying espionage and bitter class divides will take them next.
Death Sentence rounds off this issue of CLiNT, written by Montynero with art and colours by Mike Dowling, it tells the story of three people living in London who are each affected by a new STI called the G+Virus - a sexually transmitted infection that imbues the sufferer with incredible superpowers while simultaneously leaving them with only six months to live. This deadly infection has a drastic effect on the lives of the three principle characters: a young woman whose creative free spirit is stifled by her dead-end job, an ailing rock star living a life of debauchery while his record label do their best to make as much money out his diagnosis as possible, and a celebrity comedian who has made a career on the back of his sexual exploits.
It’s clear why Mark Millar commissioned this comic strip when he was handed a six page sampler at the Kapow! Show in London last year. Death Sentence paints a dark view of the seedier side of the celebrity culture that so many of us in society seem increasingly devoted to. The G+Virus has a devastating effect on all of these people, with each having to deal with their diagnosis in their own way - but for some their old lives are not going to let them walk away unscathed just yet. CLiNT Magazine is dedicated to bringing us the best in new talent that the comics industry has to offer, and Death Sentence is without a doubt one of the highlights of this relaunch issue.
This issue of CLiNT also features an interview that the editorial team have managed to obtain with London’s very own self-styled vigilante, who has incidentally adopted the magazines name in his fight against crime. CLiNTERCOURSE has some great reader’s letters - one of which initiated the aforementioned interview itself - leaving Vern Baddass Cinema 101 to close this issue of CLiNT with a fascinating look at the filmography of martial artist Marko Zaror.
If you like your comics books to be a cut above the rest, accompanied by a wealth of news and features, then CLiNT magazine is the place for you. CLiNT 2.1 is also great value for money, and with the next issue of this new volume featuring the debut of the new Hit-Girl series (A direct lead in to the upcoming Kick Ass 2 movie!) and Graveyard of Empires, you can be sure that CLiNT magazine will continue to be an essential addition to you pull list in the months to come.
 Image Belongs To Owner|Owners. One of the films I have been looking forward to all year landed on the mat at Detox Towers this week and like an excited school boy I couldn't wait and put it straight on.
I don't think I have ever been so disappointed in all my viewing life. I will tell you a bit about the film and then explain to you all where I think they went wrong.
Robert Downey Jnr is back in the title role, and is again joined by Dr. John Watson portrayed by Jude Law. They must go on an adventure across Europe and thwart Professor James Moriarty in his quest to start a world war so all sides use the weapons companies he has been accruing. The tale ends at the fabled Reichenbach Falls and we are left wondering if Holmes survives.
Robert Downey Jnr was no different in this sequel to how he was in the first film, and again Guy Ritchie has created awesome 19th century looking scenery this time incorporating Paris and other places not just London, but there is problems throughout the film. The chemistry between Holmes and Watson hasn't carried over from the first film, and with Downey being the same, the blame must lie at the feet of Jude Law who just never seems to get going. With Irene Adler (Rachel McAdams) dying at the hands of Moriarty early in the film, the chemistry is lost there also. Downey just has no one to play off. In the first film the more minor actors had larger parts to play and were heavily involved in the insane banter of Downey's Sherlock, characters like Inspector Lestrad played by the wonderful Eddie Marsan, were there to be the but of all Holmes jokes, but there is no role for him to play in this one. In the first one Mark Strong as Lord Blackwood was a convincing bad guy and this is where I believe the problem lies.
Jared Harris is a fine actor. The son of the legendary Richard Harris has impressed in both Mad Men and Fringe, and I am really looking forward to seeing his portrayal of Ulysses S. Grant in Steven Spielberg's Lincoln. BUT he is a serious actor, he has a serious, sullen face. He is not the butt of a joke nor is he a convincing psychopath, so with him playing such a large part in Professor Moriarty, the to and fro with Downey just wasn't there, was no where near the level of Downey and Strong.
I may be doing Harris a disservice here, but his Moriarty would not have been out of place in Jeremy Brett's Sherlock Holmes, and this film need someone more like Andrew Scott's Moriarty from Steven Moffat's Sherlock. And this is where the disservice occurs, Moriarty has been re-written in our psyche by the re-booted Sherlock from the pen of Moffat and Mark Gattis, so it was already going to be a hard task to make a new Moriarty stand out.
The film however was ok, I wouldn't pay to see it but wasn't a complete waste of 2 hours. Instructions for Mr. Ritchie, should he be allowed to make a third instalment, less explosions and action, the story is better when its intelligence versus intelligence, and a bigger role for Mycroft Holmes as Stephen Fry portrayal was the stand out memory I shall take from this adventure.
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