Spoiler Review Of 'Enola Holmes 2'
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Enola Holmes was a surprise hit for Netflix in 2020, with an estimated 76 million households watching the movie during the first four weeks of its release. Initially slated for cinemas, the streaming giant picked up the movie when cinemas were closed down due to the pandemic. The sequel, simply called Enola Holmes 2 and produced exclusively for Netflix, was released on November 4. Unlike its predecessor, it is not based on the Young Adult novel series by Nancy Springer but loosely based on the so-called Matchgirls' strike from 1888.
Millie Bobby Brown returns as the titular character, with Henry Cavill reprising his role as her older and much more famous brother Sherlock Holmes and Helena Bonham Carter plays their rebellious mother Eudoria. Sam Claflin, who played the second brother Mycroft Holmes in the first movie, didn't return for the sequel. With a runtime of more than 2 hours, Enola Holmes 2 is only slightly longer than its predecessor.
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The movie starts with Enola Holmes setting up her own detective agency focused on finding missing people. But she struggles to find clients, as she is regarded as too young to be a detective, mistaken for Sherlock's secretary, or simply put down because she is a girl. Like in the first movie, the discrimination of girls and women in 19th century England is a thread throughout the film, but seldomly used in a preachy way.
Just when Enola is ready to give up and close her agency, a young girl named Bessie Chapman asks her to find her missing sister Sarah. Like many other women and girls, the two work under slavery-like conditions in the match factory of Henry Lyon, where many workers have seemingly died from typhus in recent months.
During her investigations, Enola discovers that Sarah has stolen pages from one of Lyon's notebooks, that she also works as a dancer girl in a shady London theater, and that she seems to have a beau who writes obnoxious poems.
When she discovers the location of the flat where the two lovers have met in a quiet Sherlock Holmes manner, she finds another worker girl from Lyon's factory dead and is soon wanted for murder by the police.
Meanwhile, Sherlock Holmes struggles to advance with his own case, where a sum of more than 16.000 pounds has been transferred through several bank accounts before the money disappeared. Sherlock suspects someone to play a trick on him, but it takes some time before he finds out how and who.
During her investigations, Enola not only gets in contact with Henry Lyon's son William, who acts very suspicious but also meets Lord Viscount Tewkesbury again, her flame from the first movie, who is still in love with Enola.
The story takes several twists and turns until Enola and Sherlock discover that their cases are connected and that they ultimately hunt the same criminal.
Although the movie is self-contained, it leaves the door open for another sequel. At the same time, it sets up the events of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's stories, as it introduces not only Sherlock's arch-nemesis Moriarty but also his loyal companion Dr. John Watson.
Like the first Enola Holmes, the sequel relies heavily on the performance of Millie Bobby Brown, who delivers a flawless job once again, frequently breaking the fourth wall and talking to the audience or at least looking directly into the camera. Sherlock's role is much bigger than in the first one, and the chemistry between Cavill and Brown works well for most parts. So does the humor, provided both in the dialogues and the rather subtle slapstick moments.
But Enola Holmes 2 also has its lengths. Especially Enola's prison break with the help of her mother, who is still fond of blowing things up, and the subsequent chase scene through the forest is rather shoehorned and borders on ridiculousness.
Most of the supporting characters are written well, maybe except Superintendent Grail (played by David Thewlis), who is so two-dimensional and stereotypic, that there never is doubt that he is a villain.
Overall, Enola Holmes 2 is an enjoyable and funny movie with a clever plot that never gets too cerebral. Despite that, it could have been shorter, the plot overall flows better than the first one. Millie Bobby Brown proves once more that she is capable of playing other characters than inter-dimensional monster hunters, and Cavill's Sherlock is more in line with Robert Downey Jr's portrayal in the Guy Ritchie Holmes movies than that of Benedict Cumberbatch.
Score: 7/10
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