Review by Jon Donnis
I had never heard of Enola Holmes, so when I saw the film Enola Holmes 2 had been released, I wondered how I missed the first one. Well it seems that the first one just like the sequel is a straight to Netflix release, and it did quite well, So I actually watched Enola Holmes (2020) yesterday, so I would understand the characters better in Enola Holmes 2.
Enola Holmes was based on the 2007 novel The Case of the Missing Marquess: An Enola Holmes Mystery by Nancy Springer.
The general idea is that Sherlock Holmes has a younger sister, she travels to London to find her missing mother, Eudoria Holmes (Helena Bonham Carter), but ends up trying to solve a mystery with a newly made friend who happens to be a runaway Lord.
In Enola Holmes 2, Enola is back, and being a few years older, she has now started her own detective agency, because why not. Unfortunately, Enola Holmes (Millie Bobby Brown) is struggling to get clients, because she is just a girl, and now has to prove she is just as good as her famous older brother Sherlock Holmes (Henry Cavill).
Just as Enola is closing her shop due to lack of clients, a young girl called Bessie (Serrana Su-Ling Bliss) who works in a match factory approaches her for help, her sister Sarah Chapman (Hannah Dodd) has gone missing. Bessie takes Enola to the factory so she can start to investigate.
We then get plenty of girl power moments, Enola helping her struggling brother, blackmailing of government officials, Enola breaking secret codes, and even a love interest in Tewkesbury (Louis Partridge).
All in all, this is a decent film, it has plenty of eye rolling moments, as well as some historically accurate moments of feminism. If you enjoyed the first film, then this is a no brainer, you will like it. If you never saw the first film, then you might find yourself more interested in the Sherlock Holmes character, in fact I was very interested to see Henry Cavill take on such a famous role, even if he is a supporting character in this film, I think a proper film with him as the lead would be interesting, as I don't think we have ever had a tall, muscular, handsome man in the role, usually we get nerdy types, skinny types, weird American actors and so on.
And yes there are plenty of "Woke Boxes" ticked, including the hilarious reveal of who is Moriarty, (which I wont spoil, but it is about as woke as you can get) and the even more hilarious casting of Dr Watson at the very end, who is now Indian! To be fair we have had Lucy Lui as Watson in the past.
This is the kind of film that women will enjoy more than men. It is a feminist film, with a lot of silly-ness. Some is good, some is laughably bad. But there is a decent story in there, and I am sure they will make a third film.
The Good
Henry Cavill as Sherlock is fascinating casting, and his performance stands out as something you will remember. A decent story, and a strong feminist message.
The Bad
They just had to go down the woke tick box. Look you already basically have a female version of Sherlock, is that not enough? Oh, and at over 2 hours this is a long film. No need to be that long.
Overall
Despite a few issues, I still liked the film, and I also enjoyed the first one (which I think is the superior film). So it is worth watching, and if you can try to ignore some of the ridiculous casting choices, there is a decent film here.
I score Enola Holmes 2 a fair 7/10. Watch the 2020 film first, and then watch this sequel.
Out now on Netflix at
