Sherlock Holmes’ little sister still has some spunk in her.
The first two “Enola Holmes” were charming and delightful additions to the whodunit genre, and they were both based off of Nancy Springer books. If you recall, Enola Holmes (Millie Bobby Brown) is the younger sister of Sherlock Holmes (Henry Cavill), who has lived off her mother Eudora’s (Helena Bonham Carter) courageous life lessons and is just as smart as her older brother. And that means she can become a detective, too. Elementary, my dear.
Now that we have “Enola Holmes 3,” we feel it should be as fresh as the other two. And while it doesn’t compare to the second entry (this is also the shortest running of the series (running at an hour and 45 minutes), it still proves that Brown can still be as entertaining in the title role and it does have interesting aspects that contributes to her new case.
As the threequel begins, Enola is set to marry Viscount Tewkesbury (Louis Patridge) in Malta. Of course, it becomes a question about whether or not she can lose her last name. That she would no longer be Holmes. However, she must put her wedding on the back burner, when Watson (Hamish Patel) informs her that Sherlock (Henry Cavill) has been kidnapped. And it’s neither impossible nor improbable.
And then, it turns out that Tewkesbury’s mother (Hattie Morahan) has also been kidnapped. Could Mira Troy A.K.A. Moriarty (Sharon Duncan-Brewster) somehow be involved with this? And could there also be another reason why the archipelago is under British control? Those are mysteries for Enola to solve, but I think we can agree Moriarty is involved. Any Moriarty of any gender is. And plus Malta was a Crown Colony of the UK between 1814 and 1964 before it was granted independence. So, anything can happen.
It would make sense that at one point, Sherlock wants to kill Moriarty, so she doesn’t have to keep escaping from prison for revenge. And it would also make sense that she would toy with his emotions by saying: “…..and repeat and repeat.” But it would also make sense that Enola would try to be the sensible one in this case. This would indicate that a franchise needs a recurring villain. After all, Stephen Lang reprised his Colonel Miles Quaritch role in “Avatar: The Way of Water” and “Fire and Ash.”
As a producer for the first time in the series, Brown is still the right young actress to play the title detective, because how her youth and spirit keeps Enola on the right track. I have better judgement in her in this franchise than I did last year in the awful Netflix hit “The Electric State,” and these “Enola Holmes” entries didn’t cost $300 million to make. This franchise allows her to broaden her horizons as a young actress. And that would be twice this summer, we get a charming Netflix movie with a bright young actress after Zoey Deutch in “Voicemails for Isabelle.” Maybe these two should connect for their next movie.
Jack Thorne continues to pen the screenplay of the movies, while the new director of “Enola Holmes 3” is Philip Barantini, who also made “Boiling Point” and “Adolescence” (also created by Thorne). And while he doesn’t have the kind of direction as Harry Bradbeer, Throne still likes to interest us with how the kidnappings are part of something. It tries to take itself seriously and it works with the right acting and consistency.
Sherlock’s younger sister has dealt with sexism and corruption, and either she or the movie itself can thrive on whatever happens. If the “Knives Out” movies can try to trick us into thinking the case will fail, then so can the “Enola Holmes” movies. And they’re all fun. Even if this was shown in theaters, this is still the better female led action adventure to see than “Supergirl” is. Case dismissed.
Streaming on Netflix
