This week on dvd we have two big-budget blockbuster sequels -- Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. I've seen both of these films, so I'll give a short review of each.
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows brings Holmes' most well known and intelligent villain from the book series -- Professor Moriarty. This film is the second in the series to be directed by Guy Ritchie and it follows the same pattern as the first one. It's not the same film, but the direction and acting are right on par with the original. And really, I'm glad they didn't try to change this formula. The Hangover kept the formula for the sequel and even kept almost everything identical...this film is different in that the formula is the same as before, but it's on a grander scale. That, and Holmes is up against his best opponent yet, who is brilliantly portrayed by Jared Harris. There's my thoughts; if you liked the first one, you'll like this one because it's similar but bigger.
Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance brings back Nic Cage to the role of flame-head. This sequel is a case of different direction and different...pretty much everything other than Cage being over the top crazy. I actually didn't hate the first Ghost Rider film. I thought Cage did a pretty good job in the role, but the villains in the first film were a new kind of terrible and this film is pretty much the same on that frontier. The main villain, the Devil, is portrayed well, but the sub-villains or smaller henchman are worthless. The CGI is cool and all, but I'm over something that looks pretty and has no substance. The film does have Idris Elba in it, which is a huge plus, but he wasn't utilized as well as he could/should have been.
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