I have had my problems with the social justice types in Hollywood, and mainly because they tend to be entryists. Because they do not have good, original stories to tell, they take up and ruin beloved franchises, viz. Ghostbusters, and to a lesser degree, Star Wars. Enola Holmes doesn’t quite fit that category; it’s more of a cinematic hermit crab, occupying the shell of a beloved franchise. We see almost nothing of her older brother, Sherlock (Henry Cavill), and so the eponymous Enola is mostly on her own when their mother disappears.
The exceptionally talented Millie Bobby Brown plays the title role, fresh off an extraordinary run as the psionically gifted Eleven in the Netflix series, Stranger Things. But as with Hailee Steinfeld’s gobsmacking entry to the screen with the 2010 remake of True Grit, it’s hard not to question Brown’s subsequent choice of vehicles. In this case, much of it comes off as cliché — particularly her willingness to engage in hand-to-hand combat with a larger and older man. She’s an expert in jiu-jitsu, we learn, but it goes on. She outwits her famous brother (who comes off as a bit of a dunderhead). You expect more given the actress, but ... it’s almost a Mary Sue character. There’s too many of those already.
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