Love me some action: "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows" & "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol"

I'm always looking for movies that my husband and I would enjoy whenever we can steal away a moment for ourselves. I had the chance to screen Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows and Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, both opening today. I can't wait to see them again on a future date night.

I wanted to see the Sherlock Holmes sequel much more than the fourth Mission Impossible movie. Sherlock has Robert Downey Jr., an amazing actor who has aged well. Yes, I like a little eye candy on date nights. I'm not crazy about Tom Cruise, but my bias comes from his personal beliefs. His movies are generally entertaining, and he has done some good work.

Both were great unbelievable fun and cool to watch, as anticipated. Mission Impossible, opening first on IMAX before its national theater release Dec. 21, looked amazing. You felt as if you were there for every insane, dizzying action sequence. The climb up the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, the world's tallest building, thrilled. The action sequences were superior in Mission: Impossible, directed by Brad Bird (The Incredibles), which finally returns to the quality of the original franchise film. But Sherlock offered much more witty banter plus a comical bromance between Holmes (Downey Jr.) and Dr. John Watson (Jude Law). I'm not a big fan of director Guy Richie's slo-mo technique, made totally annoying with the explanatory dialogue.


Sherlock Holmes picks up with Watson readying for his wedding and retiring from the sleuthing game. But Holmes learns of wicked plot by arch nemesis Professor James Moriarty (Jared Harris), who plans to corner the arms market while creating conflict in Europe. Moriarty also isn't willing to let Watson fade into marital bliss. Some big guns are set out on him, and Holmes is off to the rescue. Crowd pleasing explosions rule as this dynamic duo sets off to thwart Moriarty's evil plans. You'll find yourself chuckling at some of the crazy disguises. The end opens the door for yet another sequel. Grade: B.


In Mission: Impossible, we find IMF agent Ethan Hunt in a Russian prison for reasons unknown. An IMF team breaks him out, but he doesn't go without his new friend, who obviously will prove useful later in the movie. Ethan and his team set out on a mission to recover files from the Kremlin. But another group with evil plans to start a nuclear war beats them and blow up the place, too. Guess who is blamed? The IMF is disavowed and Hunt and his team must now recover stolen nuclear launch codes and stop bad guy Kurt Hendricks (Swedish actor Michael Nyqvist). In the meantime, we learn one of the IMF team members (played by Jeremy Renner) has a secret past with Ethan, as well as what happened to Ethan's wife from the third film. Grade: B+.

If you take your kids, know that both are PG-13 primarily for action/violent sequences. None are gory, but people do die. There is mild language and drinking. In Mission: Impossible a character is flirtatious and dressed sexy, but there isn't a sex scene. In Sherlock Holmes a character is gambling. I have no problem taking my 11 year old to either of these.

Cheers!