Here is a head scratcher for you: which character has more cinematic representations?  Is it Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous detective, Sherlock Holmes (Henry Cavill), or the legendary medieval brigand, Robin Hood?  There is one commonality between them in that they are English.  Otherwise, it is not an answer I have immediately available for you, nor am I planning to Google it.  Still, Enola Holmes 3 is not about either of them, though the title character (Millie Bobby Brown), can be considered to be in the Sherlock-verse, if I may coin a term.  Like her brother, she is also a sleuth, in case you have not seen the previous two installments in this trilogy.  This one is also a bit more focused on the action aspect of solving crimes, but that is modern Hollywood for you.  Mixed into this mélange are a few moments that sparked this Catholic reviewer’s interest, but it does not have a ton of depth to it.

Enola Holmes 3 begins with a shadowy figure being let out of a women’s prison.  Instead of being told who she is, we then move to a year later when Enola is about to be wedded to her long-time lover (in terms of the trilogy), Lord Tewkesbury (Louis Partridge).  He is in the church awaiting her arrival as she dithers about whether she should go through with the ceremony.  There is a lot at stake for her, primarily owing to the fact that she is a Holmes.  Trading on that name, though adding her own genius to its prestige, she has built a reputation of her own as a champion of working-class claimants.  It is something of which she is understandably proud, thus making the Lord Tewkesbury’s proposal all the more complicated despite her considerable love for him.  What is creating more pressure are the arrangements being made by his mother, Lady Tewkesbury (Hattie Morahan), who has taken over much of the planning.  The wedding is to take place in Malta where Lord Tewkesbury has spent a number of beloved summers where his father (deceased) had been posted while in the military.  With all this backstory covered, we return to Enola finally making the decision to attend and rushing as fast as possible to the church.  Along the way, though, the carriage is approached by a masked man that turns out to be Dr. Watson (Himesh Patel), Sherlock’s friend, partner, and roommate is closing on her on horseback.  Once he is identified as not being a bandit, he informs Enola that Sherlock has been kidnapped.  The fact that her brother is attending the ceremony is a small miracle.  He states his objections after she announces the engagement, saying that she is giving up her freedom.  Such are the typical opinions of those who do not understand Christian, or at least Catholic, matrimony, but I digress.  During the pre-festivities feast, he is preoccupied with a stranger overlooking the laden table.  Enola notices the visitor, too, and later accuses Sherlock of working a case instead of being present for his sister.  He rebuffs her in his rude manner, but his sudden disappearance has her worried all the same.  Instead of carrying on with getting hitched, she follows Dr. Watson back to the hotel and the investigation commences.  As they are standing in Sherlock’s room, only Enola notices the things out of place, and they provide her enough clues to start gathering leads.  Initial signs point to a conspiracy among elites on the island.  Her encounter with the uninvited dinner guest appears to confirm this assumption, particularly when he is killed by an assassin’s bullet.  Upon returning to the hotel, she is greeted by a conflagration and Lord Tewkesbury inside.  The erstwhile jilted lover is inside looking for his mother, who has also been kidnapped.  The latest crime softens Lord Tewkesbury towards the jilter, which is helped when she is freed from temporary custody by his intervention.  On the streets, they spot a woman she believes might be connected to the snatchings.  This person, too, is gunned down, and it turns out to be a trap sprung by the Holmes’ archnemesis Moriarty (Sharon Duncan-Brewswer).  With Enola’s head in a noose, the only thing that saves her is the timely intervention of her mother, Eudoria Holmes (Helena Bonham Carter).  Mom is wanted by the authorities for being overly fond of explosives, but she is just as erudite as others who bear the family name.  Eudoria gives her daughter some motherly advice, though Enola uses much of the intervening time to make further amends with Lord Tewkesbury . . . even though her brother and future mother-in-law are in peril.  At any rate, even with Moriarty mucking about, everything points to a government conspiracy.  The person they land on to get answers from is the island’s governor, Brigadier General Sampson (Jason Watkins), Lord Tewkesbury godfather.  While the godson hears a troubling story about the previous Lord Tewkesbury, Enola and Eudoria learn in the archives that the government had stolen gold from Afghanistan during the war decades ago.  Furthermore, Enola divines its location while interviewing Brigadier General Sampson herself.  This knowledge allows her to lay a trap for Moriarty, as it is evident that the riches are her goal.  Hauling up the sunken treasure, Moriarty surrounds Enola and Dr. Watson with a band of ruffians, only to be usurped by a group of Maltese revolutionaries friendly to her and led by Mikiel (Joe Azzopardi).  Moriarty escapes and conveniently leads Enola to where she is holding Sherlock and Lady Tewkesbury.  At length, Moriarty is overpowered and arrested.  So, too, is Brigadier General Sampson for his part in the Afghanistan theft.  It all clears the way for Enola and Lord Tewkesbury to finally be married in the last scene.

Though it is heartening to see the eponymous detective and Lord Tewkesbury be wedded at the end of Enola Holmes 3, the ceremony is far from being Christian, much less Catholic.  The Catholic part pertains specifically to it being outside instead of in a church as the Sacrament demands.  The rest is not me complaining, but due to the fact that it is officiated by Eudoria, who admits that she has no authority to make them man and wife.  Nonetheless, the conclusion does have a few satisfying moments, such as when Sherlock has a pistol pointed at Moriarty, and is debating whether to pull the trigger and end any possibility of having to deal again with the criminal mastermind.  Thanks to Enola’s entreaty, she prevents her brother from committing murder.  Her reasoning is not necessarily pro-life, but his actions underscore the fact that all life is precious.  Further, he follows his own advice.  In one of the many flashback snippets, we see Sherlock advising Enola to choose to do good.  God gave us free will, and whenever we make a good choice (whether we are conscious of it), we are choosing God.  This is an oversimplification of faith, but it is a good start.  Yet, the film has more beneficial things to say that are Christian adjacent.  My favorite comes from Eudoria, who states that the answers we receive are rarely the answers we seek.  If the previous adage is an oversimplification, this one is closer to the mark.  So many begin following Christ because they have one outcome in mind that they want the Almighty to solve.  If they do not get that problem fix, they often rebel.  What that fails to take into account is the fact that the Almighty knows better what we need than we do.  With that in mind, we can be satisfied with whatever results come our way, be they seeing your loved ones kidnapped or having the ability to rescue them.

What you do not need rescuing from is seeing Enola Holmes 3, although it is nothing special.  As I mentioned in the introduction, it is more of an action film with a slight mystery sprinkled into the story.  When it comes to Sherlock plots, just know that Moriarty is behind it.  Otherwise, there is nothing too objectionable here.