★★
“The death of Holmes?”
To recap. I was unimpressed with the first Enola Holmes movie, but pleasantly surprised by the sequel. Unfortunately, the third time here is very much not the charm. It’s a regression to the irritating approach of the original, which seems more interested in virtue signalling – and of a highly questionable authenticity at that. I sincerely doubt any of the ruling classes in Victorian England genuinely gave a damn, in the slightest, about any exploitation of the British Empire colonies. It was what they were there for. We did not take over half the world, out of a desire to introduce countries to the delights of cricket. Mention “reparations” in the 19th century, and you’d have been locked up in the loony bin.
That’s where this ends up, though it takes a while to get there. We begin with Enola Holmes (Brown) in Malta, where she is about to get married to Lord Tewkesbury (Partridge). But second thoughts, and the discovery that her brother Sherlock (Henry Cavill) has been kidnapped, cause her to leave her fiancé standing at the altar. When his mother also disappears shortly thereafter, the game is truly afoot. Turns out that this is all part of a scheme by Professor Moriarty (Duncan-Brewster), who has broken out of jail. She aims to get her hands on gold stolen by the British Army – including Tewkesbury’s father – from Afghanistan, which is now hidden in a Maltese cave. But she needs Enola to find the loot.
Yes, she. Because Moriarty here is a woman. And black. I know the character was in #2, but it was a minor sidelight and could safely be ignored. Here, she’s front and centre, begging the question. If you want a black, female villainess, why not invent one, rather than forcing an existing, well-known character to undergo a sex-change? And, worse, a race-change? This is just one of a number of missteps here, in a film whose Victorian atmosphere is repeatedly undermined by poor choices of costume, make-up and dialogue. Basically, it feels like the makers couldn’t decide if they wanted a modern heroine or a period setting, tried to do both, and ended up breaking each equally badly.
The Maltese locations are attractive and well-used, while the cast are… okay. Not the film’s biggest problems, shall we say. Brown is now in awkward stage where she’s trying to move on from child stardom, and is currently transitioning. No, not that way. To adulthood. While it’s all a bit awkward, the supporting players are able to… Well, support her. But it would take Meryl Streep to be able to work with this script. The resulting downturn in viewership was notable, and you have to wonder if Netflix might decide to pull the plug on what is obviously not a cheap franchise. Despite the pleasures to be found in the second installment, I don’t think I would shed any tears should this be the end.
Dir: Philip Barantini
Star: Millie Bobby Brown, Louis Partridge, Himesh Patel, Sharon Duncan-Brewster