MatinÃ©e

Rating: 8/10 (19 November 2017)

Saw this with my wife. Good film for either gender. I had read the book many moons ago but forgot what happened at the end. So I was alongside Poirot trying to guess the culprit. Won't say more on that (spoiler).
Anyway what I liked about this film was the cinematic quality. Branagh used old fashioned film cameras and the plush decor of the Orient Express looks great on the big screen. Especially with all the (Alps) snow outside the train. Gave it a sort of 'christmassy' vibe.
Anyway I always envisioned Poirot as being a little swarthier than Branagh but non the less he does a good Belgian impression. Also I liked how his mustache was shaped just like the old fashionable facial hair of the era (1930s).
Yes there appears to be a black character shoe-horned in to satisfy the liberal cult. But they did not overdo it and it did not spoil the film. In fact even down to the way characters talk it was mostly historically accurate.
Not a classic by any means and for some reason Branagh just seems a tad too Anglo-Saxon to be Poirot but I never felt bored and left quite satisfied. I think Agatha Christie is a great writer and it shows.