Surviving shrapnell from impacts that are uncomfortably close is very common in Hollywood movies, it even happens in movies and series that are otherwise realistic. (Atleast once in Band of brothers, although I haven't seen much of the series.)
Lets review that scene throrougly:
But most of it is a spoiler so:
1) artillery crew
-The gun is crewed by what appear to be either factory guards or Moriarty's private army.
-I am willing to accept that they have trained gunners with them because either they might have served in artillery earlier, they might have worked at the factory testing the weapons or maybe Moriarty was forming a small army for himself.
-As for Watson using the cannon... He did serve in the military, so maybe he got some training on the use of cannons... Unlikely but possible.
2) accurasy
-The impacts are within few meters from the main cast. The gun crew cannot see the target and there appears to be no one actually spotting targets for them either so through sheer luck or supernaturally good estimation they are the most accurate gun crew in the world. (Maybe Moriarty has an eye for talent.)
3) the trajectory
-Apparently the bullets do not drop while traveling. (One of the more common movie mistakes.)
-The trees do not stop the artillery shells. This is highly alarming since the shells should explode on impact. In the real world the shells would have blown when hitting the treeline. On the other hand in the real world the shells would have been fired higher and they would have dropped from above at Holmes and his group. The explosions at the treetops would have showered them with shrapnel and bits of trees, making this a very deadly barrage since simply lying down would not have provided cover. (Then again in the real world they would not have been this accurate, still one near hit would have been enough.)
4) impact/explosion
-The ammunition on the other hand is simply horrible since it seems to require a direct hit to actually harm someone with the cannons.
(In the Finnish artillery hitting within 50 meters from the target would count as direct hit since the shrapnel should destroy any soft targets.)
-Faulty munitions... Or perhaps I was mistaken with the gun crew. Maybe they forgot to attach the fuze to the shells? Either way someone will get fired.
5) availability of ammunition and weapons
-Yeah it is a bit weird that the cannons have the ammo nearby and available for all. Definitely unsafe.
-I could accept that the small arms have the loaded magazines nearby since these were probaply show pieces ready to be shipped to all european armies.
Mauser C96 went to production 1896 so it was available before WW1.
On the other hand the movie is supposed to be during 1892 so it still is an anachronism. (and the type of Mauser used in movie went to production in 1923) And the train scene has 1895 model maxim gun...
Anyway, since the whole point is that Moriarty has been preparing for war and is gathering all weapons/supplies needed for a wolrd war we could assume that his actions have advanced weapons design faster than in the real world.
Anyway. I would rather see a more realistic description of artillery in movies anyway. Having the shells land few hundred meters off target would have been
a) more realistic
b) equally dangerous
c) less impressive for the moviegoers
Bah. This is just one of my pet peeves. I did like Holmes vs Moriarty mind games in the movie and I also liked that Irene Adler, although killed off basically "went down fighting." She was smart enough to pick a populated place for their meeting and even ordered a new tea since she suspected it was poisoned. Sure she underestimated Moriarty (The scene really did show us how much power Moriarty had.) but it's not like she blindly stumbled into a trap.
Holmes was apparently killed by Moriarity, going over a cliff while grappling with him. The original intent had been to actually kill off the character, as Doyle was tired of him or something, but later brought him back.
Moriarty was a great character. Cast just right, which is nice since I don't think I'd seen that actor before. I felt like there was a bit of a copout with the reveal near the end that Holmes had
figured things out and basically wrecked Moriarity by figuring out his accounts.
It could've used a few comments or bits here and there to give more background to Holmes figuring it out. It wasn't entirely out of the blue, but I think a couple more bread crumbs for the viewers would've been nice. On the other hand, the adrenaline was an obvious Chekov's Gun. Maybe it balances out.
And what was with the scene talking about the Holmes brothers' secret code in messages? Did that come up anywhere else? I'm hoping it's a setup for the next film, which is supposed to be out in December 2013. Otherwise, beyond the "naked fat man haha" angle of that scene it seems a bit pointless. They could've cut it without losing anything if Mycroft had told Watson in Switzerland, "Oh, your wife is doing great also she saw my flaccid penis and I have a really old butler."
In fact I may have preferred that, if only for the magic and whimsy of that line appearing on Youtube forevermore.
I noticed that too, but he was supposed to have
caught a handhold before going over the edge.
Honestly, as far as actually solving the mystery goes, the 2nd movie was boatloads better than the first. The first relied on (A) bizarre symbology that was either rather obscure, completely made up, or both & (B) things the audience might have a general knowledge of, but wouldn't know how to recognize. For instance, I figured out that Blackwood had drugged himself, that doesn't mean I knew what all of those shots of dead plants were about. But, then again, the second was too straightforward, so they still haven't really got that idea right.