My thoughts on Murder on the Orient Express going into the Branagh Version:
I have seen the 1974 version twice. I don't like Poirot's look and the film seems to take forever to get on the damn train, but once Christie's plotting kicks in it's a fun game of tennis between Poirot and everyone else. This is the Orient Express where I first learned whodunit, which is certainly a luxury the others could not bring me, but the real defining moment of this adaptation is Finney's delivery of the line "There are too many clues in this room." It's a line from the first look at the murder scene, but I still covered it to protect any possible spoilage. It's also a line I haven't heard in any other version, though I believe it is from the novel.
I have seen the 2001 TV-Movie starring Alfred Molina as Poirot. Like you'd expect from a TV-Movie, everything is simplified and sped up. Trimming the story to its bare bones makes it all into a silly bit of dress up.
My favorite version is from 2010, starring David Suchet as Poirot. It also stars Jessica Chastain, Barbara Hershey, Hugh Bonneville and Toby Jones. This is a controversial episode among fans of the series, and I'm someone who owns the box set. Suchet is my Poirot. Two things set it apart. If you're familiar with the series, the style here is radically different. The camera moves more erratically, kind of hand-held but not shaky. The biggest difference is something purists have rejected outright.
Around this time, the writers started reflecting Poirot's late age by giving him religion. It's been very subtle up to this episode, which contains scenes where Poirot flat out prays to God for guidance. It's something Poirot would never do, something that probably had Agatha Christie spinning in her grave. However, for this particular case, religion turns what happens after the murderer is revealed into a major morality question. Usually Poirot points the finger and the case is closed. Here there are trickier issues, ones made into impossible choices by Poirot's newfound faith.
My thoughts on
Murder on the Orient Express coming out of the Branagh Version:
This is the Hamlet of Murder Mysteries. The locked geography, the frenzy of clues, everyone's a suspect and the solution is ingenious. If you watch only one Poirot, this is usually the one. Often the 2nd choice is Death on the Nile because it also allows for an international cast of All-Stars. The other favorite among Poirot fans is The ABC Murders, which takes on the form of a serial killer manhunt. It doesn't get adapted as much because that structure means there are relatively few characters.
Even if you know the solution, the structure is so sound you can enjoy watching each artist both in front of and behind the camera put their personal stamp on the material. Kenneth Branagh has a sweet spot where his best films lie, the ones that often bump up against overly-faithful on one end and grand to the point of silly on the other. His Orient Express keeps hitting those outside problem zones, rarely landing in that middle sweet spot.
I'm fine with the sweeping vistas aided by obvious CG and the indulgent period details, though the two prominent ads for Godiva Chocolates are tacky. Branagh's moustache design for Poirot is acceptable because it's meant to be outrageous. He throws in a few unnecessary bits of action to get outside and they not only stick out, they're so brief it's like Branagh was forced to include it. Most of the outside scenes are strange because it's mentioned that the air is so cold their bodies could freeze. So why bring Daisy Ridley outside for a picnic during her main Q&A, and why have another meeting in an open car high atop a bridge? It's cinematic, but so unsafe it's just odd. The worst of these moments are at the beginning, when Poirot plants a cane that helps out in a million-to-one possibility and moments later and a dancer who gets into a bar fight and uses kung-fu kicks.
The climactic gathering of all the suspects commits two of these errors. First of all, they are all placed outside on the track and in the cold like a tableau of The Last Supper, something that would require an unbelievable amount of prep and co-operation from everyone involved including the railroad company. Then, Branagh has Poirot waving a gun around including pointing it at the suspects while he talks. This even directly contradicts a moment early in the film when a gun is pointed at Poirot.
RATING: * *