Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

"The game is afoot."

2011 2h 9m EN

👍

7.1

SOLID

🍅

60%

FRESH

😬

METACRITIC

⭐

7.4

IMDB

★7.1TMDB · 11,200🍅60%Rotten Tomatoes●48Metacritic★7.4IMDB · 498,829

ActionAdventureMystery

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

There is a new criminal mastermind at large (Professor Moriarty) and not only is he Holmes’ intellectual equal, but his capacity for evil and lack of conscience may give him an advantage over the detective.

“The game is afoot.”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Robert Downey Jr.
Sherlock Holmes
Jude Law
Dr. John Watson
Noomi Rapace
Madam Simza Heron
Jared Harris
Professor James Moriarty
Rachel McAdams
Irene Adler
Eddie Marsan
Inspector Lestrade
Kelly Reilly
Mary Morstan
Stephen Fry
Mycroft Holmes

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Guy Ritchie
Writers: Kieran Mulroney, Michele Mulroney
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

$125M budget — tentpole studio territory.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 15 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Sherlock Holmes Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

CAST

Did you know

328+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Guy Ritchie, shot by Philippe Rousselot. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Hans Zimmer. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor James Herbert shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law and Noomi Rapace carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Guy Ritchie directs. Philippe Rousselot behind the camera. Hans Zimmer scores. James Herbert cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1$125M budget — tentpole studio territory.
2Released 15 years ago.
3Part of the "Sherlock Holmes Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
4328+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
5Directed by Guy Ritchie, shot by Philippe Rousselot. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Hans Zimmer. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor James Herbert shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law and Noomi Rapace carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "The game is afoot.".
10IMDB entry: tt1515091 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11The top-rated still from this film on TMDB has multiple community votes — a signal the frame composition stuck with viewers.
1211,200 TMDB user ratings logged — serious cultural footprint.
13Classified under 11 themes, including "london, england", "paris, france", "detective", "detective inspector".
14Released under 12 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Philippe Rousselot
Original score: Hans Zimmer
Editing: James Herbert
Production design: Sarah Greenwood
Costume design: Jenny Beavan
Makeup / hair: Soleil Jackson
VFX supervisor: Sirio Quintavalle
Sound: Oliver Tarney
Stunt coordinator: Markos Rounthwaite
Runtime: 129 min · 2h 9m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $125,000,000
Box office: $334,615,000
Return: 268% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011)
Rotten Tomatoes: 60% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 48/100
IMDB rating: 7.4/10 · 498,829 votes
MPAA: PG-13

Awards

3 wins & 10 nominations total

Part of

Sherlock Holmes Collection

A film series starring Robert Downey Jr. as the legendary detective Sherlock Holmes, with Jude Law as Dr. John Watson.

Also by

Guy Ritchie

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

Dark Jedi2018-05-12
★ 5/10
As a general adventure and action movie I would consider this as a decent, even good, movie. As a Sherlock Holmes movie…not so much. Unfortunately, watching this movie confirms my suspicions. This is a Hollywood version of Sherlock Holmes. No style, no finesse. A Sherlock Holmes movie should not be a Hollywood action rollercoaster. It should be intelligent, stylish, witty perhaps involving detective work and, above all, British. It didn’t help that they enrolled Stephen Frey. This film is just not right. I really cannot stand the hostility between Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson. There no justification for it in the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The slow motion scenes are nothing but annoying. The lame jokes are out of place in a Sherlock Holmes movie. It gets a 5 out of 10 just because it’s actually a decent movie…if you can forget that they claim it to be a Sherlock Holmes one.
JPV8522020-08-30
★ 8/10
Probably the third time seeing this (once in theaters, another when it came out on Blu-ray) and still highly enjoyable, even think this is a tad better than the first if only because of Jared Harris as Professor Moriarty as a great adversary to Holmes. 3.75/5