The footage reveals a little more of the storyline, finding Holmes facing his nemesis, criminal mastermind Professor Moriarty, but mostly this follow-up shows more action-packed scenes, exploding buildings, cannon blasts, hair-raising escapes and mayhem as well as the witty repartee between Watson and Holmes.

Official trailer of Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

As Holmes and Watson travel from England to Switzerland tracking clues to Moriarty's next move, the path of destruction gets more dangerous as the nefarious Moriarty stops at nothing.

The film also stars Noomi Rapace ( The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) as a gypsy fortune teller and Jared Harris ( The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) as the evil Moriarty. Also, Stephen Fry ( Alice in Wonderland) plays Sherlock's older brother and Rachel McAdams ( Midnight in Paris) returns.

Up against Moriarty's formidable criminal mind, nothing short of saving western civilisation is at stake. "No pressure," says Holmes.

Sherlock Holmes 2 hits cinemas December 16 in North America, Hong Kong, the UK and other select European and Asian markets, then in Germany and Norway December 22-25, widening in January 2012 to France, Australia, Brazil and more countries.