Enjoyable up to a point, but cannot touch the 1974 version

Rating: 6/10 (16 November 2017)

I have watched the 1974 "Murder On The Orient Express" at least 7 times, and although not my favorite Hercule Poirot film, it is one with great replay value. The 2010 episode of the David Suchet series suffers by comparison, and so does this latest remake. As a director, Kenneth Brannagh has some visual ideas (a shot near the end deliberately recalls The Last Supper) and orchestrates some impressively fluid camera movements, but he botches the most iconic sequence of the original (the ritualistic re-construction of the crime), and he adds unnecessary "modernisms" (Poirot in physical action). As Poirot, he is rather unconvincing, but you get used to him; none of the other cast members stand out the way, for example, John Gielgud and Wendy Hiller stood out in the original (Daisy Ridley comes closest). The film has sweeping production values, but is short on atmosphere and detective work. I enjoyed parts of it, and will probably add it to my Agatha Christie collection, but it really is a runner-up. **1/2 out of 4.