Millie Bobby Brown cracks an elementary mystery.

There will always be certain fictional characters whose adventures will never grow old, and Sherlock Holmes is absolutely one of them. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle first introduced Sherlock to the world well over a century ago, with countless adaptations across every conceivable medium appearing in the years since, yet the character’s crime fighting escapades have endured.

Despite his timeless qualities, however, there are certainly a finite amount of straight ‘Sherlock Holmes’ adaptations that can be told before things get stale. At this very point in time, we have a number of ongoing Sherlocks on the go, but whether it’s the BBC’s Sherlock, CBS’s Elementary, or Robert Downey Jr’s Sherlock Holmes franchise, every adaptation is dutybound to offer something new to keep things fresh.

On the morning of her 16th birthday, Enola Holmes (Millie Bobby Brown) awakens to discover her mother (Helena Bonham Carter) has disappeared, leaving behind only an array of mysterious gifts. After a free-spirited childhood, Enola now finds herself in the care of her older brothers Sherlock (Henry Cavill) and Mycroft (Sam Claflin), who are intent on sending her away to finishing school. Refusing to conform to her brothers’ wishes, Enola escapes and goes looking for her mother in London, however, when her quest finds her embroiled in the mystery of a young Lord, she must outwit everyone, including Sherlock himself, to unravel a conspiracy that threatens to stall the course of history.

As one of the more ingenious takes on ‘Sherlock’, the Enola Holmes young adult books series by Nancy Springer is just the kind of inventive spin that the well-seasoned character needs to stay relevant. With ‘Sherlock Holmes’ now squarely in the public domain, Springer’s novels take the famed detective, sidesteps him almost entirely, and goes off in a completely different direction for what has been an immensely popular franchise in its own right.

Very much aimed at a YA audience, the novel series garnered quite the following over its six-book run from 2006-2010, and its precisely this audience that Netflix aim to tap into here. It’s certainly not an easy task to click with such a notoriously fickle demographic, and the recent decline of the YA sub-genre certainly attests to this, yet if Enola Holmes manages to crack the code, Netflix will have franchise gold on their hands.

To this end, Enola Holmes certainly has the energy and youthful spirit to click with its intended YA audience. Bright, breezy, and stuffed full of beans, the film has a vitality to it that’s hard to resist, something that carries the film an awful long way, even if older viewers might be a little dazed and/or confused by its candid enthusiasm.

With a confident lightness of touch, Enola Holmes is very easy watching, sometimes to its detriment, as its decided lack of substance is frequently left exposed. Despite its political leanings, the film constantly skirts around the darkness of its subject matter, as it frequently touches on pertinent issues of gender and class, but never dives in deeper than the surface.

With a chirpy quirkiness that’s unlikely to be to everyone’s taste, the film’s stylistic flourishes, such as its comical animation skits and Enola’s constant fourth wall breaking, are nonetheless highly effective in bolstering the film’s energetic approach, ensuring that, if nothing else, the plot moves by at a fair clip.

The film’s major problem, however, is just how little impact the narrative has. Neither as engaging nor as suspenseful as you want a tale under the ‘Holmes’ banner to be, the film’s plot whizzes by, yet doesn’t really go anywhere, as the dual mysteries of Enola’s missing mother and the young Viscount never quite land. As it is, the narrative is perfectly serviceable and offers much to enjoy, however, at over two hours long, the film just can’t sustain its momentum.

Around the plot, Enola Holmes makes tentative stabs at a political message, with much of the film’s focus on the suffragette movement, as well as the real-life Reform Bill, a key bill that would level the political playing field and ultimately change Britain’s voting landscape forever. As one might expect for something so light-hearted, Enola Holmes’ approach to the politics of class and gender are pretty surface-level, yet it works well enough for what it aims to achieve and acts as a solid entry point into such dense subject matter for its intended young audience.

Considering its YA target demographic, its no surprise that Enola Holmes distils its gender equality ethos down to a decidedly simplistic ‘girl power’ message. It’s an approach that certainly won’t be winning any awards for its nuance, however, thanks in no small part to the talent and enthusiasm of Millie Bobby Brown, it does a fine job of keeping us engaged.

And, of course, Millie Bobby Brown is where Enola Holmes really comes into its own. Still remarkably only 16, Millie steps up to the plate to deliver a performance packed full of energy and charisma, with a level of maturity well beyond her years. Over the course of three Stranger Things seasons, Millie has steadily grown and matured into a genuine star, something she solidifies here.

With the seasoned talents of Henry Cavill, Sam Claflin, and Helena Bonham Carter beside her, Millie Bobby Brown absolutely steals the show, with her personality shining through in every scene, as she clearly relishes her action heroine role. Cavill’s Sherlock smoulders like nobody’s business, while Claflin plays Mycroft’s blustering pomposity to a tee, however, Enola Holmes is every bit the MBB show.

It’s no mean feat to own proceedings when you have one of the most iconic characters in literary history beside you, yet despite the towering presence of Henry Cavill as an unnervingly sexy (not to mention jacked) Sherlock beside her, Millie Bobby Brown steps up her game and shines as the kind of super-sleuthing, ass-kicking teenage badass that an entire generation of girls (and boys, of course) will no doubt grow up idolising.

Built on the back of an infectious, high-octane performance from Millie Bobby Brown, Enola Holmes makes for an energetic and thoroughly engaging original adventure through a familiar world. While it struggles to maintain momentum over the course of its two-hour running time, the film overcomes its lack of depth with a youthful exuberance and a sense of fun that, while certain to grate on some, offers an enjoyable twist on the tried and tested ‘Sherlock’ formula.