Enola Holmes 2

A flame haired girl has vanished disappeared, there's only one sleuth who is free and volunteers, to find out where she might have gone, if foul play has done her wrong, and doused her fire, caused to expire, as some have feared.

Lots of chasing, with fraught pacing then ensues, as Enola sparks the wick of Grail's fuse, Sherlock dances a solution, helps resolve his own confusion, but it's a cunning and deceptive type of ruse.

An entertaining piece that strikes a chord, as lucifers are snuffed to great reward, with some history thrown in, the end is bound to make you grin, since you have the right, you might as well join in!

As engaging and delightful as ever.

"Enola Holmes 2" is the sequel to the 2020 film "Enola Holmes" based on the book series "The Enola Holmes Mysteries" by Nancy Springer. Once again starring Millie Bobby Brown in the title role, it continues the character's story in the same light-hearted manner as the previous film.

Following the events of the first film, Enola Holmes (Millie Bobby Brown) decides to set up her own detective agency, hoping to solve mysteries for the citizens of London. However, due to her young age and frequent comparisons to her famous brother Sherlock (Henry Cavill), Enola is unable to find any clients willing to take her seriously. As she contemplates shutting down her business permanently, Enola is visited by a young factory girl named Bessie (Serrana Su-Ling Bliss), who asks Enola to help find her missing sister. Enola immediately accepts the case and is taken by Bessie to her place of work; a matchstick factory experiencing an outbreak of typhus fever. While there, Enola soon discovers a shocking conspiracy that makes her realise she may not be able to solve this new case all by herself.

Back in 2020, I was quite surprised at how much I liked the Netflix film "Enola Holmes", a movie that focused around the adventures of the younger sister of the famous fictional detective Sherlock Holmes. Though the story wasn't anything extraordinary, what I thought made it so enjoyable was Millie Bobby Brown's endearing, energetic performance as the title character, a sharp contrast to her more downbeat portrayal of Eleven on "Stranger Things" that we were all used to up to that point. Considering the film is based on a series of books, it was inevitable that there would be at least one follow-up produced in the wake of its success, and now two years later we have "Enola Holmes 2", a sequel that contains most of the same winning ingredients as its predecessor.

Now a few years older, we get to see Enola not only trying to subvert society's expectations of 19th century women but also struggling to make a name for herself as a detective in her own right. The very fact that she is constantly being compared to her brother further adds to her frustration, as she starts to realise that this uphill battle is going to be even more difficult that she had initially anticipated. This added some necessary dramatic weight to the story because Enola learns that nepotism isn't always a guaranteed road to success. If anything, she is at a huge disadvantage having Sherlock Holmes as her brother, since others will instantly view her as the younger sister stuck in his shadow. I like the way the film treats this as a universal issue that any youngest siblings can relate to, especially those who wish to show that they are just as capable, perhaps even more so, than their older family members.

Like with the previous film, Harry Bradbeer continues with his fast-paced, Guy Ritchie-influenced directorial style that helped contribute greatly to what made the original so appealing in the first place. There were numerous parts where the film could have slowed down and become tedious but thankfully there isn't a single moment that drags since the action moves at such breakneck speed. Bradbeer also places better emphasis on the main plot this time, with fewer side stories that could potentially lose the interest of younger viewers. While there are some minor parts that didn't really go anywhere, they didn't distract too much from what was important to the overall story, and even then they were at least easier to understand this time around. Again, I must point out that haven't read any of the original "Enola Holmes" books so I'm not entirely sure how accurate this film is to the source material, but from what I can tell it makes for another entertaining adventure mystery film for teens to young adults.

In her second outing as the main character, Millie Bobby Brown is just so much fun to watch as the loveably peppy Enola Holmes. Every scene she is in, Brown always looks like she is having the time of her life playing this young detective. Whether she's intently investigating a missing person's case or putting up her dukes against any adversaries who dare to take her on, there's a lot to appreciate in the amount of panache Brown brings to the role. Additionally, it was pretty funny to see her occasionally break the fourth wall to address the audience on any comical situation she is about to experience, both good and bad. Brown is truly one of the most talented actresses of her generation, and both these two films and "Stranger Things" are clear proof of this.

It was also nice to see Henry Cavill play a more prominent role this time as the legendary Sherlock Holmes. In the previous film, he appeared to be more laid back than in other depictions of the character whereas here he seems to be taking things a lot more seriously than before. This time we actually get to see Sherlock do what he is best at, and that it is using his famous powers of deduction to help solve a mystery. Cavill holds his own alongside Brown but never so much that it feels like he is trying to upstage her. There is a believable brother-sister bond between the two of them, which made watching them work together a considerably more enjoyable experience.

Unfortunately, Sam Claflin is notably absent as Mycroft Holmes due to apparent scheduling conflicts. This is a huge shame because one of my favourite things about the original film was watching Sherlock and Mycroft's conflicting views on how they should be supporting their younger sister. Instead, Sherlock is all on his own without any explanation given as to why Mycroft suddenly isn't in the picture anymore. Sure, this did allow for more emotional scenes of Sherlock and Enola growing closer as siblings, but there should at least be some solid reasons provided as to how come Mycroft isn't here to offer his own opinions on what path Enola should be taking at this point in her life. No matter how hard I tried to blank him out, the film still felt like something was missing without Mycroft contributing something to the story. Hopefully Claflin will be able to reprise the role if a third film is ever green lit.

As a continuation of the original film, "Enola Holmes 2" succeeds in pretty much the same way, with its charming take on the title character by its lead star and good use of pacing to keep things moving along smoothly. There is definitely potential for this series to become a long-lasting film franchise, but that's only if the actors and filmmakers are able to maintain this streak for the length of time required for such a commitment. At the time of writing this, there is no confirmation of a third entry but considering how successful both of these films have been, I would be surprised if Netflix doesn't give the go ahead anytime soon. So long as the entire original cast return next time, especially Sam Claflin as Mycroft Holmes, then I am all for it.

I rate it 7/10.

I absolutely adored this sequel, just as much as I did the first movie. Right away I can note on its great pacing, I did not find myself bored the whole film. The greater inclusion of Enola's older brother Sherlock (Henry Cavill) added a great new dynamic and relationship to the movie without stealing the spotlight (I know it was there in the last movie, but this time there was a bigger focus on their relationship). The storyline was clever, but not so difficult that as viewers, we couldn't guess along the way and solve the mystery with the Holmes siblings.

I must also praise Millie Bobby Brown for her use of breaking the fourth wall. It was not intrusive or annoying, she would merely tease us by giving an occasional wink or glance, which was enough to keep us charmed by her. I am usually not a fan of breaking the fourth wall, but this movie hit the sweet-spot on being tasteful enough that I did not mind. The fight sequences were fun and kept you on the edge of your seat, and so did the slow building anticipation on the romance between Tewkesbury and Enola. Grail was a scary but well-developed antagonist, depicted perfectly by David Thewlis.

The set design, costumes, and stunts were all done really well, and it certainly set the scene of old London. As well as this, the whole cast can take credit for the strong chemistry they showed which really shined through in their body language enhancing this whole movie. The strong feminist undertone was clear, and using a real world example of the Match Factory girls really brought this movie to life. It was a fun, empowering and entertaining film that you will certainly catch me watching again, so if you liked the first, don't hesitate to check this one out!

Enola Holmes, now a Private Detective in her own right is employed to search for a missing girl.

It's good, for the most part I enjoyed it, as with the first, I wish I'd kept it for boxing day tea, it would have been the perfect family adventure. It's very, very similar to the first, if you enjoyed that, I'm sure you'll enjoy this, if you hated it, there's nothing dissimilar here, more of the same.

Good storyline, very imaginative and creative, very good production values too, it looked pretty great I thought.

A shame that Mycroft didn't appear, I enjoyed his character in the first film, it did allow Sherlock to get more focus, and that was great, but perhaps also some of the problem, when Cavill is on screen as Sherlock Holmes, he does overtake, it was him I wanted to see more of.

Enola herself, I liked her more than I did in the first film, I look forward to seeing her develop even further in the third.

6/10.

This is the sequel to the previous Enola Holmes film and can I just say how great this one is too!! I was worried it would be too similar to the first one but this was not an issue. Despite still having a very similar story line (I mean how many detective stories can there be?), I still very much enjoyed it. Millie is an incredible actress and is so talented for a such a young woman. The cast is suited perfectly. There was not a moment where I thought a scene was unnecessary which is amazing for a longer film (2 hours). I really enjoyed this film and the ending was brilliant making me excited for the next one!