Enola Holmes 2 Review: A Simple but Brilliantly Deciphered Mystery by Our Young Detective, In A Mix Of Ingenuity
Cast: Millie Bobby Brown, Henry Cavill, Louis Partridge, Helena Bonham Carter, David Thewlis, Hannah Dodd, Susie Wokoma
Director: Harry Bradbeer
Streaming Platform: Netflix
Filmyhype.com Ratings: 3.5/5 (three and a half stars) [yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]
As we will see in our review of Enola Holmes 2, however, the film also hides much more inside: a love plot, an educational message on the importance of accepting the help of others and a real historical event, that of the Matchgirl strike. – workers of a match factory in East London – in 1888. Brown confirms herself as suitable in the role of Enola Holmes, but it is Henry Cavill who steals the show this time. Two years after the debut on Netflix of the first chapter of the saga from the series of novels by Nancy Springer, Millie Bobby Brown returns to play the role of Enola Holmes, the younger sister of the famous Sherlock with the same flair as her brother for cases to be solved. And for trouble. Again, directed by director Harry Bradbeer (Fleabag, Killing Eve) and scripted by Jack Thorne, the film once again gives the viewer a simple yet brilliantly deciphered mystery by our young detective, in a mix of wits, amazing escapes and fight scenes.
After we review Enola Holmes, we can reconfirm with the sequel that the shooting and reinterpretation of the character of the younger sister of the more famous Sherlock continue to entertain while presenting the usual limits that have often been found in Netflix productions, but which succeed to pass the time for a carefree viewing. The same happens with Enola Holmes 2, one of Netflix’s November 2022 films, which once again sees Millie Bobby Brown as the protagonist and foreshadows that one of the veins of the young detective still has several arrows to reserve in its quiver. Leaping forward it can be said that, probably, the one that awaits the protagonist could become a trilogy for the streaming platform, if, with the second chapter the figure of the villain Moriarty is added, its continuation will allow a greater analysis beyond to the acquaintance of a close friend, collaborator and doctor of Sherlock Holmes.
Enola Holmes 2 Review: The Story Plot
Returning, however, to the return of the investigator who from number 221 Baker Street only makes a quick leap, the advanced one with Enola Holmes 2 seems a further step towards a drying up of the excesses that had amused but weighed down a bit the previous film and that is smoothed to the point of making the sequel harmless, but smooth. The film focuses on a case in which this time the young woman will move trying to reconfirm the role that she once saw as a protagonist, that is that of a detective with a superfine flair and impeccable deductions, made available to people who go to the looking for help. When everything seems lost and for Enola, it is time to give up what seems to have been only a glorious achievement in her young existence, an investigation appears before her eyes on which she will also lead the viewer.
Pursuit of the traces and intuitions of a Chinese box with a hilarity that suits the light soul of the work and grants it a simple and effective sympathy. The one that belongs in the first place to the fulcrum of his story, to a character who arouses those feelings of joy and trust necessary to enter intricate and dangerous investigative paths, such as those that are brought up again this time, while maintaining an immaculate aura and sweetened in which to move characters and audience making them feel safe.
Enola Holmes 2 Review and Analysis
Nothing original, therefore, and also devoid of those marked feminist discourses that had been the incentive that had prompted the protagonist to finally put herself at the centre of her adventure, no longer remaining in the shadow of her older brothers, thus demonstrating that she had not anything less to envy them. At the same time, however, Enola Holmes 2 acquires fluency, in ironic flashes, still making the female question a fundamental and unshakable point on which to develop, integrating it even better to the case on which the girl will have to focus, drawing inspiration from elements of reality.
A story that unfolds by putting a few characters at the base, but each is positioned so that the private detective can reach the culprit, not refraining from some hitch or arrest from which he has to escape. And in Enola Holmes 2 there will also be dances, poems to be deciphered and secret identities, which to arrive more decisively perhaps did not need two hours and ten of vision, which lengthen and stretch the narration a bit too much, still managing not to completely extinguish the spectator’s curiosity. An investigation waiting to be opened and a wink towards the camera. The protagonist Enola Holmes does not need anything else: the game is on!
Enola Holmes 2 is a film that speaks above all of the women, and of what was their condition (and the consideration reserved for them) in London in the 1800s: forced to live in the shadow of her brother, the girl soon realizes that a professional and talented woman will never be taken as seriously as a man. Not surprisingly, it is a woman, the young Bessie, who is the first to turn to Enola and trust her; the first element of female solidarity with which the film is studded. Proceeding with the resolution of the case, the young detective thus discovers that she can keep up with the famous Sherlock and can even overcome him. She too succeeds thanks to the support of the women of the working class, the indirect protagonists of the film: in fact, the context in which the narrative evolves is very important which, as already mentioned, is based on a real historical event, that of the Matchgirl strike.
This is the first industrial action undertaken by women for women, as a result of which their working conditions improved considerably. “Nobody should be alone. ” The sentence that Enola Holmes addresses to her brother Sherlock represents what is the true communicative intent of the film. If initially, in fact, our young protagonist focuses everything on her independence (teaching given to her by her mother), failing, it is when she realizes that she has to open herself to the help of others that she begins to reap the fruits of her work. Indeed, it is only by joining forces with those the factory workers, Lord Tewkesbury and even his brother Sherlock that Enola will be able to resolve the case. Even the mother of the Holmes, Eudoria (Helena Bonham Carter), in her fleeting appearance, seems to want to show that she has finally learned the importance of balancing autonomy and collaboration with others, telling her daughter: “You will do very well on your own, Enola, but together with the others you can become magnificent “. A little rhetorical perhaps, but without ever falling too far into the sentimental.
Millie Bobby Brown is confirmed as suitable to play the role of the young detective, especially in those scenes in which the girl’s strong intellect emerges and not her fighting skills, certain moments of entertainment but sometimes a little exaggerated. Louis Partridge in the role of Lord Tewkesbury proves to be a good sidekick as regards the resolution of the case, less as Enola’s love interest: the sentimental scenes between the two clash and do not contribute to the development of the narrative. The one who steals the show – but not to the detriment of the protagonist – is Henry Cavill, who in this second episode of the saga earns much more time on the screen, ending up becoming an essential character for the success of the film.
Enola Holmes 2 Review: The Last Words
In her second chapter, Enola Holmes reconfirms herself as a protagonist who seeks her authenticity as a private detective, basing her story on a case that again mixes female issues and the young woman’s desire to use her intuition to help people. A light film with which to entertain, however, harmless too with its cases of disappearances and murders with which to amuse the viewer. Millie Bobby Brown returns to play the role of Enola Holmes, younger sister of the famous Sherlock, in a sequel that offers, once again, a simple but brilliantly deciphered mystery by our young detective, in a mix of ingenuity, amazing escapes and scenes of combat. The theme of female solidarity and Henry Cavill’s capability of stealing the show complete a film of pure entertainment.
