Which of the two recent 'Sherlock Holmes' movies is your favorite?

My wife and I rang in the new year last Saturday night by driving to Greenville to watch “Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows” at The Edge theatre, and it was more than worth the one-hour drive and price of admission.

Directed by Guy Ritchie and starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law, this action thriller was released on Dec. 16. Based on characters by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, “Game of Shadows” is the sequel to the 2009 blockbuster, “Sherlock Holmes.” Downey plays master detective Holmes in both movies, and Law plays his sidekick, Dr. Watson, in both films.

According to the Internet Movie Database, “Game of Shadows” is based largely on the short story “The Final Problem” but also contains elements of other Doyle stories, including “Bruce Partington Stains,” “The Dying Detective,” “The Greek Interpretor,” “The Second Stain,” “The Sign of Four,” “The Speckled Band” and “The Valley of Fear.”

In “Game of Shadows,” Holmes matches wits with his nemesis, Professor Moriarty, who is played by actor Jared Harris. Harris is best known for his appearances in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “Resident Evil: Apocalypse,” “Ocean’s Twelve” and “Mr. Deeds.”

A rumor early on, before filming, made the rounds that Brad Pitt would play the villain Moriarty, but that never came to pass. It must be admitted that this would have been a very interesting role for Pitt, and would have probably made the film a bigger draw at the box office. Others rumored to have been in the running for the role of Moriarty included Javier Bardem, Daniel Day-Lewis, Gary Oldman and Sean Penn. Why they went with Harris probably boiled down to money or the desire not to distract from the star power of Downey and Law.

Much has been made in print and on television about claims that “Game of Shadows” is better than the original. Both movies are entertaining in their own way and as you would expect from movies with the same director and principal actors, there were many similarities in both movies. Which is the better of the two, I cannot say. I liked both of them, maybe the first more than the second.

Of course, this movie made me want to run right out and read all of the original Sir Arthur Conan Doyle “Sherlock Holmes” stories, and I really have no excuse of not doing so. As I type this, in a box on the shelf behind me, sits both volumes of the Bantam Classic edition of “Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Novels and Stories.” These books contain all four novels and 56 short stories. At a combined 1,796 pages, it would take me over a month and a half to read from front to back. But that is a column for another day.

In the end, my wife and I really enjoyed “Game of Shadows,” and I recommend it to anyone out there who enjoys a good action thriller and especially to those who liked the first “Sherlock Holmes” movie in 2009.

What did you think about “Game of Shadows”? What was your favorite part? Did you think it was better than the first Holmes movie? Why? Let us know in the comments section below.