Rating: A
Dir: Harry Bradbeer
Star: Millie Bobby Brown, Henry Cavill, Sam Claflin, Helena Bonham-Carter
Unexpected this! I watched it on a whim not really expecting to be that bothered. And it’s great! And reinforces that getting out of your comfort zone is a good thing to do. It’s also evidence that films based on books tend to be quite good. It’s also further proof that Henry Cavill has the acting range of a cheesecake – fresh, stuffed, stale, or hewn from a damp plank.
“Look for what’s there, not what you want to be there. You’ll see the truth soon enough.”
So, with the 4th wall fully broken in we plunge, for “the game’s afoot”, as is some nice cinematography. It’s English-pretty meets the Railway Children and Hogwarts.
Jaunty. Sprightly. Energetic. FUN!!!
Enola (Brown) has two older brothers. Mycroft (Thewlis) and Sherlock (‘plank’). She also has Helena Bonham Carter (playing Eudoria) as her enigmatic mother. A mother who has gone missing without much trace.
“What are you planning mother?”
Engaging. Exciting. Well shot. Cute. Forty minutes feels like five. Amusing, funny, delightful! With a riddle… …well realised/shot/SFX. It’s Lundin innit, cawr blimey mista! I suggest that you suspend everything and engage, immerse yourself as you would into a large warm bubbly bath, for this is simply joyous fun. Irreverent and energetic.
“There’s no better disguise than fear.”
The story (I hear you muttering)? Well, set in the time of steam-trains and telegrams, Enola’s mother has vanished, leaving Mycroft as ward of Enola. Wanting ‘only the best’ he tucks her away in Ms Evil’s Boarding Prison Skule for Irritating Siblings. Sherlock in the mean time drips like a tap. Enola however is not to be stopped from finding her mother, and well… blah blah… lots of stuff happens that I have no intention of spoiling for you. It’s all light and easy fare, along with some nicely worked modern threads woven in, as along the way Enola meets Viscount Tewkesbury (Partridge).
“Viscount Irritation, Marquis of Bothersome!?”
“…this is what my mother made me for…”
This is a delightful escape. Clever, a good cast, good story, with charming-England, cliched and bottle up for ease of consumption.
“You have to make some noise if you want to be heard!”
The acting is well done and sprightly, fun, with quite a bit of talking to camera by Enola. It also keeps a connection to childhood innocence, and when finally Eudoria (Carter) arrives on screen you can see the others players’ performances in the light of an acting grown-up. She is immediately impactful and quietly impressive.
“Facts don’t detract from hope.”
This is well done in all regards. Stop reading this nonsense, and go watch it. Immediately! Now!!
“…I’ll pay you five pounds to swap clothes with me…”