I'm still a bit unsure as to why Kenneth Branagh is re-making the Agatha Christie 'Hercule Poirot' novels. The stories are a bit old fashioned and I'm not sure if modern audiences need these type of films.
Don't get me wrong, I'm fine with these as I enjoyed Murder On The Orient Express. But I still don't feel like these need to be re-made.
With the success of Knives Out making the 'whodunnit' genre cool again, these feel a bit behind the times now.
That being said, any film by Kenneth Branagh with an strong ensemble cast is hard to ignore, and as ever my open mind approach to every film was still there.
The story goes at a gentle pace as you might expect with some interesting sequences that makes the most of the modern technology available. For the most part it does go as you would expect, which in this case is perfectly fine. However, there were a few unnecessary over-dramatic moments to hint at the audience that this is an important moment.
The production design instantly reminded me of Baz Luhrmann's 'The Great Gatsby' from a few years ago. Despite it being a period setting, the whole look of it is heavy in CGI. In my view, this did not need to be like a lot of blockbusters these days that have a sets packed with green screens to save money on doing the film on location and make the most of executing more sweeping camera shots that they could not do in the past. The digital look of it had me a little unsettled and I was almost coming to the point where it honestly made me want to go back and see the 1978 version again.
Even with the overall look of the film looking almost animated, I was still having an entertaining time. I am a sucker for these types of films and the character development is solid enough for you to get invested with a lot of them.
The cast all do a solid job and keeps you on your toes in trying to work out who the culprit is. Kenneth Branagh's charisma was infectious as ever. Armie Hammer and Gal Gadot were very believable together and had good chemistry with Emma Mackey's character that was integral to each of their own story archs.
Tom Bateman has a memorable screen presence along with on-screen mother Annette Benning who never fails.
It was strange seeing Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders in a feature film that wasn't voice acting. But I feel they did a good job and I was happy they never took over the film with their brand of comedy. They played along with the tone and comedians continue to impress me at playing straight roles really well. I could mention more. But I would give the last mention to Russell Brand who like French and Saunders played straight really well. He never took you out of the film and certainly made me feel he could do a Jim Carrey and give masterful dramatic performances.
Despite my issues with the CGI heavy production design, it is a nice film to look at. With a lot major studios releases colour palette being almost grim looking. It was nice seeing something that was bright, clean and pristine. That made for a effective overall mood and tone.
Overall, I think it was a perfectly fine watch. The story is interesting enough and the performances really help the plot move along.
But if I was being brutally honest, it's not interesting enough to be rewatchable. While the old-fashioned style is refreshing up to a point. Being forced into typical mystery tropes and not feeling gripping enough to be memorable beyond the credits rolling makes it more of a middle-of-the-road experience. I'd prefer Murder On The Orient Express as I think their execution of the crucial reveals felt more impactful.
For a mystery, it is vital to having you caring on you attempting to work out who committed the crime. It does that up to a point. But there were moments where I was losing interest. That was mainly due to the somewhat slow pacing. The just over 2hrs duration probably should have been cut about 10-15 mins shorter. That I feel would have given the film a bit more of a flow and slick edge to it. It might have given it an almost sense of urgency to grip the audience.
It should still work for a mass audience. Particularly with the older demographic. It might do enough for a third installment and I think that might be enough for this re-make franchise.
Rating: 7/10
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