In ‘Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows’, similar to the first movie in this series, Holmes is depicted visualising ahead the possible courses of attack by his enemies, so as to be able to swiftly counter them step by step in the most efficient manner possible. While this is ingenious in its own right, as if seeing the opponent’s chess moves ahead of time, the scenes of what really happens next always differs – but Holmes improvises in the moment, from moment to moment, accordingly.
This is a good reminder of how even the best laid plans can come to nothing or close to nothing in the event of reality’s messy unpredictability. Cause and effect can be convolutedly dynamic, like the events of life itself, with the intersection of past karma’s ripening and the present fresh karma being created. Plan if you will, but do not be too rigid, or it would be a sure path to defenceless failure. Keep your mind on the objective, but improvise, improvise, improvise! What else can we do?
A planned fight sequence that went right in Sherlock Holmes 1: