MOVIE REVIEW – The investigation is back in “Enola Holmes 2”, with Millie Bobby Brown playing the title character again. The new Enola Holmes is not only “elementary” but also highly entertaining. On the plus side, the young girl’s famous brother Sherlock is now more integral to the story. Add to this a story based on real historical facts about the horrendous working conditions of the time, and you have the makings of a better developed sequel than the last one.

“Some of what follows is true,” the script notes at the beginning when Enola (Brown) – Sherlock’s very independent and self-conscious sister – takes in young girls working in a matchstick factory who inexplicably fall ill. The investigation is entrusted to a little girl whose sister has disappeared. The teenage detective is eager to take on the case, though he has little choice, as everyone else prefers to turn to his brother when it comes to investigating.

Fortunately for Enola, said brother, the famous Sherlock Holmes (Henry Cavill), is in the younger and more physically fit phase of his life, working on a tangled case of his own that eventually clashes with the one Enola is pursuing. Moreover, the mysterious clues suggest the work of a master criminal, giving the detective an adversary worthy of his intellect.

Look who’s talking to the viewer

Directed again by Harry Bradbeer and scripted by Jack Thorne, Enola Holmes does not deviate from the winning formula used in the Nancy Springer books, and Enola continues to regularly break the “fourth wall” to offer her comments and witty remarks to the audience while looking into the camera.

The real ace of the show continues to be Millie Bobby Brown (who also produces the films), the star of Stranger Things, who Netflix wisely recognized as a real star in the making. When Enola attends a lavish ball that reunites her with the dashing and wealthy Tewkesbury (Louis Partridge), she must adapt to another important character’s almost fully loaded “dance card” to get on the list of female dance partners he’s taking to the dance floor. It’s hard not to think that the situation is reversed for Netflix and Bobby Brown: the streaming service should keep him busy as often as the college-educated female movie star’s schedule allows.

Millie has gone all out here

Whether Millie Bobby Brown is a good actress or not is a matter of judgment because she gets plenty of heat and cold from Netflix viewers. I had fun with her sometimes a little over-the-top performance, which is otherwise an excellent fit for this self-conscious and young female character. Bobby Brown has a particular sense of humour and comic charm that may not work for everyone, but I liked him by the second film. It’s clear to me that she has pushed herself a little harder as an actor than she did in the Stranger Things series – admittedly, this character gave her more room to do so.

As for Henry Cavill, I think he ‘inhabited’ the character of Sherlock Holmes much more in the second film, to the point where he could have been the subject of a series of separate movies or a series. It’s about time, after all, as he recently said goodbye to the character of Gerald of Rivia in The Witcher season 4.

No shortage of action

Enola Holmes 2 contains a considerable amount of action – frankly, a little too much, given the more cerebral aspects of the character. The film performs better when Enola uses her brain rather than her fists, and she “sees” events with a kind of animation that nicely illustrates her well-developed perceptive abilities.

Sherlock Holmes has gone through many iterations over the years, which is a testament to the character’s durability, while it is also clear how difficult it is to bring much new to Baker Street. Brown’s highly enthusiastic female Holmes innovation is perhaps just what the franchise needed at this point, and the historical thread was a good idea. Although I would be far from calling this light and pleasant female Holmes detective adventure with its comedy elements a groundbreaking one, it is almost certain that it will be a big hit, so it is unlikely that Netflix will want to leave Enola alone for long.

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