Feels like the Enola Holmes franchise (if you can call it that) has run out of steam, since this third chapter, creatively titled Enola Holmes 3, both begins and ends with a wedding in Malta. This time around, the younger sister of Sherlock, Enola (still played by Millie Bobby Brown), is slated to get married to Tewkesbury (Louis Partridge), now a member of the House of Lords. But she’s having cold feet, not wanting to give up her name or being a detective alongside her brother (Henry Cavill) and his friend and confidant Dr. Watson (Himesh Patel). Just as she’s about to head to the church for her nuptials, Enola believes that Sherlock has been kidnapped and she chooses going to find him over going to her own wedding, leaving the groom-to-be stranded at the altar.
Enola still occasionally talks directly to the camera, for reasons I’m still not entirely sure make sense and am entirely sure are pointless and unnecessary. Having Sherlock missing for most of the film makes it possible to reduce Cavill’s screen time to barely an extended cameo, which is a shame since their banter was often the highlight of the previous two installments. Speaking of cameos, Helena Bonham Carter also returns as Eudoria Holmes, the explosives-loving mother of the Holmes siblings who helps a little in solving the big mystery of the film and in giving her only daughter a little wedding advice.
Although the kidnapping of Sherlock—and later Tewkesbury’s mother—is the mystery that kicks off this story, the real tale that needs unraveling involves something much darker and far more baked into British history, since it involves colonies, racism, classism, and a bit of hidden treasure thrown in for fun. And rest assured, the true villain is and always will be criminal mastermind Moriarty (Sharon Duncan-Brewster). Still, despite Brown being game for just about anything as far as action and looking foolish from time to time, the entire affair seems played out and uninspired.
As Enola tries to stay focused enough to save her brother and look for clues as to his whereabouts, we get a carpet-bombing of quick flashbacks to the previous two films, to remind us of Enola and Sherlock’s bond, which is shockingly not really a part of this chapter, simply because Cavill is barely around to show if this brother and sister still have chemistry. The entire affair feels played out and void of any substantial or intriguing ideas, and even worse, the characterizations are appallingly two-dimensional. I love that Enola refuses to sacrifice her professional ambitions in the name of love, but she still spends a great deal of time clinging to the idea of being married to Tewkesbury, a wet blanket disguised as a human. Not that the previous two Enola Holmes movies were all that earth-shattering as far as entertainment goes, but there was something there in the family dynamics, which barely register on this occasion on the small island nation of Malta.
The film is now streaming on Netflix.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider supporting Third Coast Review’s arts and culture coverage by making a donation. Choose the amount that works best for you, and know it goes directly to support our writers and contributors.
