A revival too far

Rating: 4/10 (7 November 2017)

I went to see Murder on the Orient Express last night and afterwards thought what was the point? Did Kenneth Branagh do it for self indulgence. In 1974 it was great to see Albert Finney, Laureen Bacall, Ingrid Bergman, Sean Connerry etc playing the parts. There was a still a certain mystique about film stars, especially the ones from yesteryear. Now on the Graham Norton show we can see how vacuous so many of them are. Yes the scenery was spectacular. The costumes were great. But honestly, really honestly other than having several A Listers or B+ Listers who hardly open their mouths and a Hercules Poirot in Branagh not in the same class as Finney or David Suchet I would say that TV does these thrillers much much better these days. The opening scene in Jerusalem was like something out of Raiders of the Lost Ark. But Poirot is no Indiana Jones. The ending which tells us that we can prepare ourselves for a remake of Death on the Nile. No thank you, even if Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks are in it!