Time: 129 Minutes
Cast:
Millie Bobby Brown as Enola Holmes
Henry Cavill as Sherlock Holmes
David Thewlis as Grail
Louis Partridge as Tewkesbury
Susie Wokoma as Edith
Adeel Akhtar as Lestrade
Sharon Duncan-Brewster as Mira Troy
Helena Bonham Carter as Eudoria Holmes
Director: Harry Bradbeer

Enola Holmes takes on her first case as a detective, but to unravel the mystery of a missing girl, she’ll need some help from friends — and brother Sherlock.

I enjoyed the first Enola Holmes movie; It wasn’t anything special, but it was fun for what it was. It probably didn’t need a sequel, but a sequel was inevitable nonetheless, and I think it ended up being better than the first movie.

The story is a familiar mystery as a simple disappearance story but is overall stronger than the first movie (which 2 years later I can’t remember). I wasn’t initially interested in the mystery at first, but I eventually got on board with it as time went on. They also blended in some true history surprisingly well. It also benefits from the fact that it doesn’t get bogged down by having to establish the origin story of its lead character, and so it can just focus on the central mystery. The writing is sharp and the playful nature of the fourth wall breaks make it entertaining. While fourth wall breaks can be hit or miss, the fourth wall breaks probably work here because they are constant throughout the movie. Sometimes the pacing is a bit slow, and it doesn’t help that the movie is really too long at 2 hours and 10 minutes. For me the length is the film’s biggest flaw; it could’ve been cut down by at least 10 minutes.

Millie Bobby Brown once again leads the movie greatly as the title character, and she’s even more confident here than she was in the previous movie. As entertaining as these movies are, they wouldn’t nearly be as good without MBB, considering that much of the films are riding on her, and she is very much the key strength of both of them. Henry Cavill again makes for a good Sherlock Holmes and perhaps one that is more light hearted than most people are used to seeing on screen. This time he’s more directly involved with the plot and fits in quite well. She’s not in the movie a ton but Helena Bonham Carter is entertaining in her screentime. The villains are more interesting and entertaining than in the first movie; David Thewlis is particularly scene chewing and having fun in his part.

Harry Bradbeer returns to direct the Enola Holmes sequel and again has done a decent job at directing; nothing special but it works okay. The editing can be a bit of a mixed bag. Sometimes it is stylish in a good way, but whenever it comes to the ‘action’ scenes, the cuts are very janky.

Enola Holmes 2 isn’t a great movie; the mystery isn’t that unique, and it definitely is too long. But I can’t deny that I had lots of fun throughout, especially with the good cast led by Millie Bobby Brown. Netflix seems to want to make this a franchise and there will definitely be another sequel for sure, but I’m honestly up for another Enola Holmes.