More visually interesting then engaging

Rating: 6/10 (27 November 2019)

Hercule Poirot solves the titular crime in this lovely but somewhat bland version of Agatha Christie's famous story. The cast of A-listers are sumptuously dressed and bejewelled, and the luxurious train interiors nicely recreated, but the characters always seemed more like characters than like people, giving the film an artificial, stagy feeling. Having not read the Poirot books, I'm not familiar with the character, but Kenneth Branagh seemed OK as the somewhat obsessive-compulsive Belgian sleuth. Judy Dench, Derek Jacobi and Johnny Depp were as good as always, but I found Michelle Pfeiffer's portrayal of Caroline Hubbard unconvincing. The plot is interesting, if implausible, and the look of the film is fine, although the CGI images of the train moving through the Carpathian(?) Mountains were substandard (at least when viewed on my TV). OK, not great, and a reason for me to hunt down the 'star-studded' 1974 version for comparison.