Le Crime de l'Orient-Express

J’adore les histoires de détective. Depuis que je suis petit, je consomme sans modération les aventures d’Hercule Poirot et puis j’ai beaucoup d'admiration pour Kenneth Branagh et les belles ambiances soutenues par une musique et des visuels à la hauteur. Par contre, et c’est le cas ici, ces histoires ne me plaisent pas si je sais à l’avance comment elles vont se terminer. Le Crime de l'Orient-Express, Le Meurtre de Roger Ackroyd et Dix Petits Nègres sont des récits inoubliables dont je connais l'intrigue et le dénouement par cœur, même après vingt ans. Par conséquent, il ne me reste plus qu’à me focaliser sur la mise en scène et le jeu de ces acteurs de première ligue. Et j’en ressors avec une impression plus que mitigée. Kenneth Branagh est peut-être capable de faire un excellent Iago, un Heydrich mémorable ou un Wallander charismatique, mais jamais il ne fera un bon Poirot avec sa démarche trottinante et sa tête d’œuf. Et puis, Poirot dans des scènes d’action ? Naaan ! C’est beaucoup trop américain. L’ensemble est fort stérile et ennuyeux et il ne reste que la chouette ambiance, la musique, les visuels et quelques acteurs ou actrices populaires agréables à regarder. OK, je vais mettre trois étoiles, mais alors toutes petites. (08/10/2018)

"Murder on the Orient Express" is one of Agatha Christie's most celebrated Poirot stories and was first published in 1934. The Lindbergh baby case is also infamous, and its reach can be illustrated, for example, by the fact that in its time it also caused fear in Marlene Dietrich, who hired two bodyguards for her daughter. The trauma caused by the scandal was almost palpable throughout the 1930s... There have been a number of adaptations, whether in film, television, radio, theater, comics, or video games. So is it a good choice to start a new series? Isn't it a shame to start telling new Poirot cases in this notorious way? So far, Kenneth Branagh seems to have been lucky. Soon he will be back again and will surely solve another famous case - Death on the Nile. So what was the recipe used? Branagh was not afraid to make a classic all-star film for today's audience, where it is important that even the smallest roles are played by respected actors. It is all sufficiently idealized, deliberately playing with reverence and yet suspenseful and, where desired, funny. It is therefore an endeavor that can be enjoyed without hesitation. As an added bonus, we get a new song sung by Michelle Pfeiffer - "Never Forget." (22/05/2018)

Although the original by Agatha Christie is a perfect detective story that will be relevant even in a hundred years, giving this movie a five-star load is unfortunately almost impossible. The story is amazing, the adaptation and the camera work are very imaginative, CGI is surprisingly okay, but Kenneth Branagh decided to approach the movie on such a massive scale that not only did he drag a bunch of fantastic actors on board, but he also turned the Balkans into the Italian Dolomites. On top of that, the resolution didn’t sit well with me. Even though I knew what would happen. The Last Supper style also culminated acting-wise and some characters turned into caricatures of themselves thanks to their theatrically expressive performance and I was a little sorry about that. Overall a good movie but it can thank the source material for that. (18/02/2018)

I love the old version with Albert Finney, but the new one by Kenneth Branagh certainly doesn't disgrace it. However, the director and the main actor in one person decided – quite logically and, I think, rightly – not to try to make any fundamental statement against it or the source material. So although the trailers try to suggest that we're going to see some brisker pacing and maybe even some action, it's still the right kind of Poirot dialogue. And just like the film's classics, it stands on its excellent cast, great performances, dialogue and of course how perfectly thought out the whole thing is. Branagh treats the book with reverence, but at the same time doesn't shy away from a more modern and clever use of cinematography and excellent music work. And the result is the most honest whodunit I could have imagined given the source material. It goes exactly as it should. (27/07/2018)

I confess to being a big fan of Agatha Christie and David Suchet's Poirot, so as hard as I tried, I couldn't get past this modern take, where Poirot runs, fights, gets shot at (and hit), steps in dung and then steps in it on purpose again, investigating in a truly un-Poirot-like way. And so on and so forth. This is simply not Hercule Poirot. If they'd just taken inspiration from the prequel and called the detective, say, Jarda Vomáčka, it would have been fine and it would probably have been easier to digest this new Poirot, but nope. Besides, even though it had such a beautiful cast, the acting came across so stilted that I didn't really have anyone to focus on and I was bored for most of the film (except for the scenes where Poirot was deviating from his Poirotness, because I was getting angry and the classic fan in me was fighting it). I admit the visuals were beautiful, but that was the end of it. Definitely a full-on disappointment for me. (11/02/2018)