Review of Enola Holmes (2020) by Jluis_001 — 27 Sep 2020

I'm amazed this film is getting so much appreciation considering how weak its plot is.

Especially its remarkable lack of development.

I find it incredible (even considering the nature of the characters) the evident emotional detachment shownI'm amazed this film is getting so much appreciation considering how weak its plot is.

Especially its remarkable lack of development.

I find it incredible (even considering the nature of the characters) the evident emotional detachment shown at the beginning of the story.

Are you telling me that the main character is waking up on her birthday and her mother is nowhere to be found, plus she didn't say where she was going and she doesn't seem worried about it?

There's a certain sadness in her tone, but frankly, she doesn't seem interested in her whereabouts.

After that, she's reunited with her two brothers after several years without seeing them and they obviously don't recognize her, and she acts as if nothing is happening?

And then the first real emotional reaction she shows is when she finds out that she's being sent to school? Who the hell wrote this?

Now, I can't blame Millie Bobby Brown for that. At the end of the day, she does try to bring charisma to the matter, with her constant breaking of the fourth wall. However, everything that surrounds her despite seeming built with the intention of enhancing her character, it cannot help feeling ruinous and empty.

Mycroft is a pain in the ass. He's mean and annoying. Whereas Sherlock seems to be so disconnected from everything, that he becomes completely useless.

I fully understand that neither of them are characters that need an emphasis in this story, but it wasn't about disappearing them in such a way.

The most ironic of all, is that Enola Holmes seems to be grappling with one thing at first and then changes its focus very quickly.

Although its approach in tone is clearly lighter, that didn't mean that it should become so bland and this is because the script is very weak, this despite all the topics it tries to cover.

Because the film is mainly an origin story, but it is also a family drama, a thriller with political elements, there's also the feminist commentary and gender roles, even reaching the fields of romantic comedy, and if your script is not so solid to complement all these elements, it is more than clear that there will be much to criticize.

Apparently this film didn't get the message of: the one who grasps at too much loses everything.

Maybe I'm being a bit harsh, but it seems to me that a lot of people decided to leave out many of their flaws.

I guess this is because they enjoyed this story much more because it was a feel-good movie within the Netflix standard.

And while it may be, I doubt there will be more talk about Enola Holmes beyond a couple of weeks from now.

I was going to give it two stars. It won the extra half star because of the great production work and the musical score.