Adaptation Displacement: There are a lot of viewers, including many Holmesian fans, who didn't know that the movie is based on the books targeted for young adults.
Adorkable: Enola herself can be very endearingly dorky whenever she tries to act like a Proper Lady when she's only sixteen or turns Tsundere towards Tewkesbury.
Aluminum Christmas Trees: Suffragettes at the time did learn jiu-jitsu in real life, as one of them (Edith Garrud, whom the character of Edith is all but stated to be) and her husband were apprentices of Japanese master Sadakazu Uyenishi.
Alternative Character Interpretation: Whether Lestrade dislikes Enola and is happy to catch her or admires her somewhat and is just doing his job can be a bit hard to tell.
Angst? What Angst?: Although Enola is briefly horrified at having accidentally killed the man with the brown bowler hat in self-defense, she's basically forgotten about it in the next scene, and it's never brought up again afterward.
In general, Enola's Big Brother Worship of Sherlock, who returns her affection the best way he can (admittedly, it's Sherlock Holmes we're talking about, but he does really try). His laugh of admiration as he realizes she solved the case and went to Lestrade before him is the most we've seen him emote in the film.
Tewkesbury's absolutely adorable I Kiss Your Hand moment at the end of the film, and Enola's grin.
Despite telling Tewkesbury that she wants nothing to do with him, Enola repeatedly comes to his aid. She even abandons her original quest to alert him that his life is at risk, and sacrifices her freedom to save him.
Like You Would Really Do It: When Tewkesbury is shot by his grandmother, it seems quite unlikely that it would stick. Sure enough, he's revealed to be wearing a suit of armour.
Moe: Bessie in the second film is a Plucky Girl doing her best to find her sister and is also a Cheerful Child in spite of her sad situation. She is very huggable.
Narrowed It Down to the Guy I Recognize: In the first film, Enola initially suspects Tewkesbury's uncle as the murderer, but given that the character appeared in two minor scenes, and Frances de la Tour showed up for an extended scene as his grandmother, also casually revealing some of her traditional beliefs...it was easy to telegraph the grandmother might have a larger role and be the culprit.
One True Pairing: Enola and Tewkesbury (aka Holmesbury) is easily the most popular ship and it is hard to find a fan of the film that pairs either with someone else, due to the chemistry between their actors. Fans were quite pleased when the sequel made them an Official Couple.
Portmanteau Couple Name: The Enola Holmes/Viscount Tewkesbury ship is called "Holmesbury" by fans.
Questionable Casting: Henry Cavill as Sherlock is bound to raise some eyebrows, simply because he's well-known for playing Superman and other similarly built characters. This inevitably makes him at least twice as big as the traditionally lanky Sherlock from the Springer books and the original Doyle canon. Never mind baritsu, this Sherlock looks like he could rip Moriarty in half.
The complete absence of Dr. Watson from the movie is this for some, considering the original Enola Holmes books explicitly referenced him as Holmes' biographer and friend. In fairness, it is entirely possible, in the universe of the film at least, that they haven't actually met yet.note The film is set in 1884, at most three years after Sherlock's investigation in A Study in Scarlet, which was published IRL in 1887. Fan chronologies list only a handful of cases prior to 1884 where Watson acted as Sherlock's partner; cases from the 1870s are told as stories by Sherlock to Watson. It's not too much of a stretch to imagine Lestrade doesn't think of him as 'working with' Sherlock yet. A mid-credit scene in the sequel finally introduces him proper, after Enola asks him to become Sherlock's flatmate.
Mycroft being changed to an incredible jerkass in this adaptation, as this was the exact opposite of his much kinder (albeit still old-fashioned in his views about gender and society) character in the original Enola Holmes books. In this continuity, his actions end up causing Enola to run away. To add insult to injury, he suffers also from Adaptational Dumbass.
They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: Even though the movie is about his sister, several viewers complained about how underused Sherlock Holmes is despite being played by Henry Cavill and making a good impression (either with his deductions or his attempts to reach out to Enola) when he is onscreen. The writers clearly heard this, as Sherlock is given a much more prominent role in the sequel.
Unintentionally Sympathetic: Mycroft. Even though he's a misogynistic jerk who is dead-set on controlling Enola's life, he was the one that was sending money to his mother for upkeep only to find the house in ruins, Enola abandoned, and the fact that he was swindled by Eudoria so that she could use the money for her secret society/activism (their activities also borderline on terrorism, no less). Despite the fact that he hates feminism, you can at least understand a reason why he was angry.
Unintentionally Unsympathetic: Eudoria Holmes is portrayed as a caring mother who left all these clues to give Enola her freedom and as an activist who stands up for women’s rights. Unfortunately, the fact still remains that she abandoned her daughter (on her birthday no less) and had even planned to bomb crowded streets and torch buildings to raise awareness; the latter example makes her look more like a terrorist rather than an activist. The sequel notably does damage control by having her break Enola out of prison and help her fight off Grail, also offering her helpful advice on solving her case and making things right with Tewkesbury.
Books
Hilarious in Hindsight: Enola's insistence on not doing a Sweet Polly Oliver in the first book as Springer's earlier series, The Tales of Rowan Hood, was guilty of this multiple times. It was the main ploy used by Rowan, Robin Hood's daughter, when she ran away to Sherwood Forest.
Les Yay: Between Enola and her friend Cecily Alistair.
