The trailer promised plenty of mayhem and comedy, but I wondered if I had seen all the best on offer condensed into thirty seconds and that even the world’s most famous consulting detective could fall victim to the curse of the sequel?

‘A Game of Shadows’ sees Watson getting married and an adversary alluded to in the first entry, but now very much stepping into the spotlight here: none other than the ‘Napoleon of Crime’ Professor James Moriarty (played with cold relish and gusto by Jared Harris) who presents Holmes with his most dangerous case yet.

I have to say that there is very little detecting in this one. Rather the film relies on breathtaking action and the unconventional friendship and banter between its too male leads.

‘A Game of Shadows’ is a noisy, action-packed thrill ride which some Holmes purists may balk at. Yes Mycroft, Holmes’ brother is on hand to lend some class to the proceedings (played by self-confessed Holmesian and aficionado Stephen Fry), but the overall effect is of being on the equivalent of a Victorian roller coaster ride where coherence and sleuthing are sacrificed for lots of explosions and fighting. This is not a big problem as the viewer is scooped up along for the ride, but this is not exactly the Holmes as dreamed up by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Rather this is a modified Holmes with a strictly young modern audience (with short attention spans) in mind.

The plot which concerns anarchists, espionage and the very well being of the Western World gets drowned in all the shouting and mayhem. But we do not mind as its so much fun seeing Holmes and Watson squabble like an old married couple.

Canine favourite Gladstone takes another bow and provides a few laughs and there are plenty of them throughout. Newcomer Noomi Rapace as Madam Simza Heron has a struggle to make an impression but makes a valiant effort nonetheless.

The film may not be particularly reverential to its source material but it’s a nice touch to have a character from the literary canon up on the screen battling Holmes in the form of Colonel Sebastian Moran (Paul Anderson) ‘one of the deadliest marksmen in the world.’

Despite its shortcomings, the overall effect of ‘A Game of Shadows’ is pleasing and it not only manages to be equal to the original but at times even manages surpass it. Do not be surprised to learn there will be a third entry sometime in the future.