The film opens with Watson (Jude Law) in his study, revisiting an
adventure with Sherlock Holmes which he is writing out on his typewriter. Watson explains that
it is 1891, and Europe is in trouble. A series of bombings has most of the European nations up in arms.
The scene then cuts to a busy marketplace. Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) is
there smoking a pipe, he is in disguise. He is keeping an
eye on Irene Adler (Rachel McAdams), who is making her way through the
marketplace. She bumps into a gentleman and exchanges an envelope
for a package. Holmes slides up beside Irene and switches the package
for a loaf of bread. He warns her that she is being followed by three troublesome looking men, and wants to know what she is up to. Irene agrees
to meet Holmes for dinner to discuss things as she does this she pulls Holmes into a nearby
alleyway, to avoid the men. They are confronted by a thug at the end of the alley, another three thugs surround them. Irene says, “It was four men
and they are escorting me, not following me.” She takes her
package back from Holmes and tells the men to go easy on his face, as they are meeting later for dinner. The men attack Holmes. Holmes uses his powers of
observation and prediction, this enables him to anticipate their moves and
disarm them easily. He continues following Irene, who is on her way to
a nearby art auction.
At the auction, Irene delivers her package to who it is intended. The man gives her a letter in return, a letter
intended for the writer’s sister, but Irene is meant to deliver it to
Professor Moriarty. The recipient of the package believes that the package Irene has
given him contains payment, but as he opens it, Holmes appears out of
nowhere to slap down his bidding paddle to prevent a hammer from
tripping an explosive device. The package is in fact a bomb, and
Holmes warns the gentleman not to touch anything as Holmes takes the letter from Irene. The man touches the bomb and triggers the bomb to start another timer.
Holmes sets a piece of cloth alight and yells “Fire!” to clear the auction
house. Irene flees with everyone else, so only the gentleman
remains. Holmes throws the bomb into a stone pot and shuts the
lid. As he is wheeling the pot into a nearby storeroom, the gentleman makes his escape. The bomb explodes, but is
successfully contained within the stone pot. Holmes runs out onto the
street to catch up with the man, only to find him collapsed against
the side of the auction house. A small dart is in his leg.
Holmes takes the dart and puts it into his pocket.
Meanwhile, Irene Adler heads to a teahouse, where she meets with an
unseen man seated at the next table. She
glances suspiciously at her teapot, and asks the server for a fresh
cup. The server brings the tea. Professor Moriarty
(Jared Harris) reveals himself, expressing his disappointment in Irene’s
performance. He informs her that he will no longer require
her services. She believed the location of the teahouse would keep her safe.
Moriarty taps his spoon against his cup, and every single person in the teahouse get to their feet, and
exits. Irene gets to her feet and tries to run away.
Moriarty calmly sips his tea as china smashes and a body falls to the
ground.
The scene then cuts to Holmes, who is waiting for Irene to meet him for dinner. He knows something is
wrong as she is late, but he tucks his napkin into the neck of his shirt and begins to
eat.
Later, Watson arrives at Holmes’ house. Watson calls
for Holmes, he can hear Holmes whispering his name, but he is
nowhere to be seen. Holmes shoots Watson in the shoulder with a dart, still doesn't appear. Holmes steps away from the wall, he’s
wearing a bodysuit, painted to match the wall and
bookshelf, making him nearly invisible. Watson peers into the next room, which is full of newspaper clippings and
photos, all connected by red threads. Watson notices one particular
news article on Dr. Hoffmanstahl’s sudden death. Watson is very
familiar with Hoffmanstahl. Holmes
says someone was “tying up loose ends”. Holmes asks Watson what all these events;Hoffmanstahl’s death, bombings, and the sale of munitions stocks have
in common. Watson follows the threads and sees that they lead to one particular man: Professor James Moriarty.
Watson reminds Holmes that he is getting married tomorrow, and they are
supposed to be heading to his stag party. Holmes responds by shooting a
poison dart into Watson’s bulldog. Watson is annoyed, until Holmes
gives the dog a shot to revive him. The dog
leaps up and runs out of the room. Watson says might need some of that
later, and Holmes offers a small case with a shot as a
wedding gift. Holmes says he is being watched. They drive to a
nearby club where they are met by Holmes’ brother Mycroft (Stephen
Fry). The brothers try to outdo one another. They enter the club, where Watson discovers
that none of his other friends have been invited. He accuses Holmes of
forgetting his stag party, and Holmes responds with a toast, during which he is clearly looking around for
someone. Watson goes off to play cards, and Holmes heads upstairs to
have his fortune told.
The fortuneteller is named Simza (Noomi Rapace), He tells her that he is looking
for the devil, then gives her the letter stolen from Irene Adler, which
was originally intended for Simza. It is from her brother, and it says
that he must say goodbye. Holmes says he needs to find Simza’s brother,
but Simza won’t help him. Simza tries to kick Holmes out of the room, he whispers in her ear that a Cossack assassin is hiding directly above her in the
ceiling. The assassin leaps down, and Holmes pictures how he must prevent assassin’s attack. Before he can begin his prevention, Simza
throws a knife into the assassin. A
crazy fight begins. Meanwhile, Simza disappears,
leaving only her carpetbag behind.
Downstairs, Watson has gotten into a drunken brawl, and collapses in Holmes’ arms. Holmes packs him into the
motorcar, and Watson awakes extremely dirty and groggy outside the
church where he is about to be married. His bride Mary meets him at the
altar and is a little shocked at his appearance. Holmes exits the
church only to find Moriarty’s right-hand man, Colonel Moran, waiting at
the motorcar. Moran says “He wants to meet with you.” Holmes replies,
“I was expecting the invitation sooner.” Holmes heads to the university where Moriarty lectures. Moriarty is listening to an opera song by Shumann that
Holmes recognises.Holmes presents Moriarty with a copy of Moriarty’s own book “Dynamics of
an Asteroid” and requests Moriarty’s signature. Moriarty complies. He
says that Holmes has complicated his activities.
Moriarty is angry and replies that Watson will not be spared. In fact,
Moriarty intends to send him a wedding present shortly. As a parting
blow, Moriarty gives Holmes Irene Adler’s bloody handkerchief and tells
Holmes that Irene contacted a “rare form of tuberculosis”.
The scene then cuts to Watson and his wife Mary, preparing to board the train for
Brighton. As Watson boards the train, he notices a ticket taker arguing
with a woman, telling her that she can’t use the bathroom while the
train is still in station. Watson joins Mary in their private
compartment to enjoy a glass of champagne, and the train departs.
Before they have gone far, a porter knocks on the door with a bottle of
complimentary wine. As the porter sets down the wine, he attacks Watson
with a knife. Watson fights him, and Mary grabs Watson’s gun. She
points it at the porter, as Watson opens the side door and
throws the man off the train. Watson hears someone else in the hallway, and pulls open the door to with his gun drawn, only to find Holmes in female drag.
Holmes pushes Watson back inside while guards shoot from the
hallway. As Watson defends the door, Holmes grabs Mary and throws her
out the side door off the train. Mary falls off the bridge and lands in
the river below. Watson turns around, realises his wife is gone, and
leaps on Holmes yelling, “You killed my wife!” Holmes assures Watson that Mary is safe, and this is all part of his
plan. Three guards burst into the compartment
with guns drawn. Watson looks down the barrel of the gun and sees it is
jammed with something that looks like lipstick. A flashback shows that
Holmes, disguised as a woman, has mixed false capsules in with the
guard’s ammo. When the guard tries to fire, a bomb blows up
in his face, knocking all three guards back into the hallway. Holmes and Watson take the opportunity to climb out the side door and
scoot down the train to another compartment. Holmes
tells Watson to lie down on the floor and wait. As soon as Watson lies
down, the guards fire a gun through the passenger cars,
splintering the walls and seats. They continue to fire until their gun
jams from another false bullet that Holmes has substituted. Watson jumps up to shoot through
the hole. The bullet hits the shooter’s
shoulder, but a second man takes his place and continues firing. They are
trapped until a second bomb makes it up to the gun,
blowing the last five cars clear off the train.
The scene then cuts to Mary, swimming down the river. Mycroft rows up in a tiny boat and Mary is furious, but accepts his help. Back to Holmes, who is asking Watson to join him for one last case. He
promises that once Moriarty is deposed, he will never ask for help
again. Watson reluctantly agrees.They head to Paris.
In France, Holmes and Watson travel to a gypsy camp. Holmes has the
fortuneteller’s carpetbag, and holds it ransom until they bring him to
Simza. Holmes explains that he is still looking for Simza’s brother.
Simza says she hasn’t heard from him in a very long time, but he has
sent her some pictures. Holmes looks at the drawings, and says
that the paper comes from a printing press located next to wine cellar.
Simza says there is a printing press and wine cellar at the
headquarters of the anarchist group with which she and her brother were
formerly part of. Simza joins Watson and Holmes as they head to the
anarchist headquarters. The anarchist group is lead by a man named Claude. As Holmes, Simza,
and Watson walk through the compound to meet Claude. Holmes, Watson, and Simza sit
down with Claude and try to pump him for information on Simza’s
brother. Claude says that he has not seen her brother for a long time.
He would like to help them, but he can’t. Claude says he made
a deal with the devil, and he has no choice because this “benefactor”
has taken Claude’s wife and children hostage. Holmes says that he can
help Claude, he can get his family back, but Claude says he already
knows what to do. He says, “You have less than ten minutes”, then pulls
out a gun and shoots himself in the head. Claude’s troops hear the shot. They rush downstairs to avenge him, but Holmes has
noticed a few specks of blood that indicate a hidden
passageway. Holmes, Watson, and Simza flee down the passageway, but not
before Holmes observes a few sticks of leftover dynamite.
Holmes, Watson, and Simza race to the opera house, where Holmes quickly
locates a prop platform with a Latin engraving. He cuts open the bottom
of the platform, expecting to find a bomb, but instead he notices a chess piece. He looks up to the balcony and sees Moriarty
watching him. They rush to a nearby hotel, only to witness an explosion that kills a roomful of
businessmen. Holmes examines the bodies and notices that one of
the businessmen has a bullet hole in his head. He follows the path of
the bullet through the window, up to the roof of a building. Watson also recognises the sniper’s leftover tobacco, the evidence points
to Moriarty’s right-hand man Colonel Moran.
At breakfast the next morning, Holmes states that the businessman with
the bullet in his head was clearly the target, the bombing was to cover up his murder. This businessman was the owner of a huge factory located in Germany. Moriarty
owns a majority share in this company, making him the new owner now
that this man is dead. Holmes says he has been following Moriarty, therefore
knows that he is taking the train to Germany in the afternoon. Simza says she can smuggle them across, and
they meet a few of her gypsy friends in order to sneak across on
horseback. They travel to the German factory, and Simza waits outside the
grounds while Holmes instructs Watson to send a telegraph. Holmes
sneaks inside and sees the factory. On the wall are maps detailing every major European country,
with the amount of weapons they can be expected to purchase. While he
is snooping, Holmes is found by Colonel Moran, who takes him to
see Moriarty. Watson returns from sending the telegraph to find Holmes gone, but
Holmes has left Watson a drawing of the nearby lighthouse. While Watson
sneaks over to the lighthouse, Moriarty questions Holmes, demanding
to know who the telegraph was sent to. He sticks a giant meat hook
through Holmes’ shoulder and hangs him from the ceiling, singing along
to an opera song. He tugs on
Holmes until he screams. Meanwhile, Colonel Moran opens fire on
Watson. Watson is pinned down, unable to reach the lighthouse.
Instead, he crawls to the nearest pile of weapons.
Moriarty throws Holmes on the ground and gets in his face. Holmes whispers that the telegraph was sent to his
brother Mycroft. At the same time, Watson has found a huge cannon and
shoots at Moran, causing the entire lighthouse to fall on the building
where Holmes is being held. Watson helps Holmes out and
they race to Simza and her gypsy friends. Colonel Moran has
likewise rescued Moriarty, and he organises the soldiers to find and take care of the fleeing intruders. The soldiers are firing, there are explosions everywhere, and Holmes and
the others can’t go back for the horses, so they race to jump on the
approaching train. Moran is in hot pursuit, and Watson manages to shoot him in
the leg, but Moran keeps firing and kills most of the gypsies. Only one
gypsy, Simza, Holmes, and Watson make it on the train. Holmes is badly
injured from the hook, and as Watson attempts to stitch up the wound,
Holmes goes into shock and stops breathing. Watson remembers the shot that
Holmes presented to him. He pulls out the
syringe and stabs Holmes in the chest. With Holmes revived, Watson asks if they can go home. They make a quick detour to Switzerland.
Mycroft joins them in Switzerland. Mycroft has a small golden inhaler, his own “private oxygen supply”, to deal with the altitude. The following evening, Holmes, Watson, and Simza sneak into the grand
ballroom. Each major European nation
has sent someone to represent them. Holmes is convinced that one of the representatives could be an
assassin must be disguised as an ambassador. Holmes is pretty sure that
the assassin is really Simza’s brother, but he doesn’t know which
ambassador he is disguised as. Holmes tells Simza that one of the ambassadors is really her brother,
but she doesn’t recognise any of them. Holmes thinks the assassination
will take place when everyone gathers for the group photograph, which
gives them only 10 minutes to find the impostor. Watson and Simza must find the
assassin while Holmes faces Moriarty. Holmes sends a note to Moriarty,
inviting him to a game of chess out on the balcony. While they play,
Moriarty tells Holmes that he knows Watson and Simza,
are searching for the assassin. Watson and Simza try to spot Simza’s brother.
Watson says that the man would have scars from the surgery, but
four of the ambassadors have hairlines that could cover such scars.
Simza has told him that her brother has blue eyes but no one has blue eyes. Watson and Simza are stumped. Watson
deliberately knocks over a tray of drinks, causing everyone to
look around except for one, a man keeping his composure. Simza tries to speak with her brother, but he says, “I’m sorry,” and reaches for his gun.
Watson tackles him. As the police drag the assassin away, Colonel Moran
shoots a poison dart from his cane, killing Simza’s brother
immediately.
Back to the balcony, Holmes and Moriarty hear what has happened and know
that Moriarty’s assassination plot has failed. Moriarty smiles and
says it doesn’t matter. Moriarty abandons the chess game and is
about to leave, but Holmes keeps playing, speaking the moves aloud. They play verbally until Holmes has Moriarty in check. Holmes
tells Moriarty that he knows about the notebook, a
tiny red book that Moriarty keeps in his jacket at all times the book is filled with private information. Moriarty is livid and is about to attack. As he always does
before combat, Holmes mentally runs through his plan. However,
Moriarty is clever enough to do the same, together they imagine the fight step by step. Due to Holmes’ injury
from the hook, they both realise that fight will end with
Moriarty wining and Holmes thrown over the railing of the balcony. Before Moriarty can move, Holmes grabs him
around the neck, throwing them both off the balcony. Watson arrives
just in time to watch them fall.
The scene cuts to Holmes’ funeral. Then to Watson finishing what he was writing at the beginning of the film. It is an account of his last
adventure with Holmes. As
Watson types “The End”, Mary enters the study she gives Watson a package that was just delivered. Watson opens the package and sees the small golden oxygen inhaler
Holmes examined prior to the peacekeeping summit. Watson runs out of his study to ask his wife who delivered the package. His armchair begins to move. Holmes stands up,
dressed in camouflage again. Holmes reads the ending of what Watson was typing. When he gets to “The End”, he types
a question mark.
This film is non-linear as it reverts back to things that happened previously in the film to help unravel the rest of the story. This film keeps you guessing as Holmes' nature and actions make you question how things will plan out for him. This film is enjoyable and keeps you interested throughout by the funny yet serious ways the actors give you a crime thriller. This works well as a thriller as you never know whats going to happen next you're constantly surprised by it, as well as this is ending gives you the best suspense as you have to put the puzzle together to figure out if Holmes is alive or not before he reveals himself, it also gives you more questions by the way he adds a question mark to the ending of Watson writing. I would give this film 4 out of 5 as I found it exciting and thrilling throughout.
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