The world has seen countless iterations of Sherlock Holmes, whether it be in literature, television, or super stylish Guy Ritchie movies that I find pretty underrated. With so much Sherlock content out there how do you breath fresh air into the character? Well... you cast Millie Bobby Brown? As his sister? And she's the lead? But Sherlock is also there? And he's Superman???
All jokes aside Enola Holmes is a new Netflix film starring Millie Bobby Brown as Enola, son of famous detective Sherlock Holmes. When her mother goes missing Enola must go on a wild mystery which has many twists and turns.
Millie Bobby Brown is definitely overhyped as an actress, not to her own fault, but I was glad to see her shine in this. I think she needs to deliver some more strong performances to earn the credibility she has been given but I genuinely think she has the talent to be great, and this is a strong step. The film boasts a strong supporting cast but its her that carries things. She sets the tone throughout, and her energy is a large reason why this works. She does a lot of fourth wall breaking which could have been annoying but there's a charm to the way she delivers it which I enjoyed. Henry Cavill plays Sherlock and people are beaming about him. I thought he was okay. Maybe I'm just used to takes like RDJ or Cumberbatch but I don't see Holmes as a big handsome guy. I just don't think he's believable as Holmes, but his performance is still decent and in the context of this lighter film it works well enough. Sam Claflin plays their eldest brother Mycroft and pardon my British but he's an absolute prick. Claflin does a great job taking on a fairly common stuck up Brit in a period piece role, making it his own while also staying true to old tropes. Helena Bonham Carter has some limited screen time as Enola's mother, but I loved when she was onscreen. She is one of my favourite actors and I found that she elevated any scene she was in. The only other big character was Louis Partridge as a boy Enola comes across in her travels, but he gave a very standard performance so I wasn't wowed.
Filmmaking wise there are some flashes of creativity throughout I appreciated. There are graphics to go along with Enola's fourth wall breaks that I found super fun. There is also a lot of beautiful set and costume design on display. Period pieces usually have great costumes and sets but they can be a tad boring in some cases. Designers Michael Carlin (production) and Consolata Boyle (costumes) both infuse the film with some extra fun by getting creative with how things look, all while staying true to the period. I don't have many issues with the film, overall I find it to just be a solid family film thanks largely to some good ol British charm, but one issue I have is with the pacing. It isn't always consistent and in a two hour family film I think it could have been cut down to flow a bit smoother. But yeah, I don't think this is an amazing movie by any means but I had fun with it, and Millie Bobby Brown is really good.
Rating: 3.2/5
Written by Matt McKenzie
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