History Film / SherlockHolmesAGameOfShadows

* InvoluntaryCharityDonation: [[spoiler:The assets seized from Moriarty by the police are used to make an anonymous donation to the Widows and Orphans of War fund.]]

** The final confrontation between Holmes and Moriarty plays out very similarly to a scene in ''Film/{{Hero}}'': [[spoiler:They have a BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind, with both of them using AwesomenessByAnalysis to calculate each other's strategies and the most likely outcome of the fight, similar to how Nameless and Long Sky 'fought' each other.]]

** [[spoiler:In their first face to face meeting, Moriarty reveals he killed Irene and Watson is next.]] Holmes goes from being almost giddy about his rivalry with Moriarty to being much more withdrawn, showing some Tranquil Fury, and decides that Moriarty needs to be stopped. No matter the cost.

* WhyDontYouJustShootHim: Moriarty could have avoided so many troubles if he had killed Holmes when he met him at the university instead of sadistically toying with him.

** Moriarty makes a metaphor about him and Holmes being a fisherman and a trout [[spoiler:during the scene where he tortures Holmes in Heilbronn. Holmes later reveals that he willingly let himself get tortured in an effort to pickpocket Moriarty's notebook. When Moriarty flips through the decoy notebook Holmes left, he finds a flip-book cartoon of a stick man fishing up a shark only to get eaten by it, leaving the words ''Be Careful What You [[{{Pun}} Fish]] For!'']]

* RealityEnsues:
** [[spoiler:What happens when you put Irene up against a guy who is about as smart as Holmes, but with no moral compunctions or feelings for her? He outwits and kills her. That's it.]]
** [[spoiler:Once he has conclusive evidence that Moriarty is a criminal, Holmes simply has [[MundaneSolution the police freeze Moriarty's assets]], cutting off the momentum of his EvilPlan at the ankles.]]
** [[spoiler:The final fight between Holmes and Moriarty starts off with a SherlockScan fight plan, handily exploiting Moriarty's rage over having his entire empire undone... only to be interrupted by Moriarty doing the very same thing. And Holmes realizes it. "Come now. You really think you're the only one who can play this game?" Both come to the same conclusion, with Moriarty mercilessly whaling on Sherlock's injured shoulder despite Sherlock's best efforts to counter, and eventually tossing him over into the waterfall below. [[TakingYouWithMe "Unless..."]]]]
*** [[spoiler:The fight itself is what you'd expect to happen if someone with a heavy handicap went up against a ruthless boxing champion. Holmes had absolutely no chance in a straight fight and it didn't take long until he and Moriarty realized this very fact.]]

* UnitConfusion: The 6-8 miles per hour side-wind in which Moran makes his famous shot. That wind speed would barely move the air, let alone a bullet. The conditions portrayed in the flashback and which would make the shot the nigh-superhuman feat it is described as are far more in line with a 6-8 ''feet per second'' wind speed.

* AvoidingTheGreatWar: Moriarty tries to start a world war so that he could supply weapons. He mentions that, even if he's stopped, the world will still find a way. We all know how history went, so he's right.

* TwoCanPlayThatGame: Holmes has the ability to rapidly plan fights in advance, mentally seeing everything that can transpire in his head before the first punch is thrown. He knows how his opponent will react and the exact sequence in which everything will occur, carefully planning his way to victory. Moriarty, however, can do the exact same thing. In the final confrontation, both of them foresee that Moriarty will easily defeat Holmes. Holmes then chooses to TakeAThirdOption...

* '''''Film/XMenApocalypse''''': Quicksilver is so fast that everyone else is moving in slow motion, and his enhances senses let him see everything in BulletTime. He never loses...until he's delivering a beatdown to Apocalypse. Apocalypse can also see the world in BulletTime, and while he's not a speedster he can still use his mental powers to trap Quicksilver, then deliver a beatdown of his own.

*** To be fair at the time, two male friends sharing a dance would be considered more akin to a joke than a statement of their sexuality. Its recently with the fact its now legal, and quite often encouraged, that we attribute any sign of affection or companionship as a sign of this.

* ColdBloodedTorture: Moriarty has Holmes suspended by a hook in his shoulder and knocks him around while singing along to opera.
** The song itself is actually a lied of Schubert, called The Trout. Roughly translated, it's about a fisherman who tricks a trout into biting his line by muddying the waters and the fish is betrayed. The music editor was a little sadistic with his choices.

* NeatFreak: Mycroft is implied to be this. Doesn't like to shake hands, barely goes anywhere other than his home and office, carries [[ChekhovsGun a personal supply of oxygen]]... even his habit of walking around his house naked could be a reference to SuperOCD sufferer [[TheAviator Howard Hughes]].

* ArtisticLicenseGeography : Sherlock locates Moriarty by making the following deduction:

:What's wrong about it? About everything. There were only six mainline stations in Paris in 1891, none of which are close to the Tuileries (the nearest would be the Gare Saint Lazare). And If you would indeed have to take a train at the Gare du Nord to get to Berlin, the direct line runs approximately 300 miles north of Heilbronn.

* ArtisticLicenseGeography : Sherlock locates Moriarty by making the following deduction :
-->"So there are seven mainline railway stations in Paris. But taking 10 minutes to get to the Jardin des Tuileries (...) reduces there to one, the Gare Du Nord where he will be just in time to catch the 11:04 train to Berlin. It makes several stops along the way,one of which is...Heilbronn."
What's wrong about it? About everything. There were only six mainline stations in Paris in 1891, none of which are close to the Tuileries (the nearest would be the Gare Saint Lazare). And If you would indeed have to take a train at the Gare du Nord to get to Berlin, the direct line runs approximately 300 miles north of Heilbronn.

What's wrong about it? About everything. There were only six mainline stations in Paris in 1891, none of whom are close to the Tuileries (the nearest would be the Gare Saint Lazare). And If you would indeed have to take a train at the Gare du Nord to get to Berlin, the direct line runs approximately 300 miles north of Heilbronn.

* ArtisticLicense - Georgraphy. Sherlock locates Moriarty by making the following deduction :

* RunOrDie: After saving Holmes and escaping the tower, Holmes, Watson and the gypsies are forced to flee on foot from the train yard with Moran and his men hot on their heels. Gets worse when when they pull out ''an anti-tank cannon'' to fire on them.

** Though the twist is that it's showing exactly how a real fist-fight ''would'' go if they went for it. They just both happen to be predicting the same sequence of events [[spoiler:in which Moriarty wins and throws Holmes off the balcony.]]

* BoringButPractical: The pony Holmes ends up with for the border crossing. Compared to the horses everybody else is riding, it's distinctly lacking in coolness. It's easily the most ''efficient'' mount in the mountains though.

** [[spoiler:Holmes's camouflage suit. First used so he can shoot Watson with little blow-darts. Then it's what Holmes wears to hide himself in the room where Watson is typing his manuscript of the events.]]

** [[spoiler:Holmes's use of the pipe ashes to distract Moriarty is reminiscent of his use of Irene's handkerchief in the first film to distract a boxing opponent.]]

* DisneyDeath: [[spoiler:Holmes.]]
* DisneyVillainDeath: [[spoiler:Moriarty.]]

* YouHaveFailedMe: Moran invokes this when warning German officer commanding Little Hansel's crew. However, even though the good guys escape, we never see what befalls the officer.
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: [[spoiler:Moriarity kills Irene Alder this way.]]