Kenneth Branagh returns to star and direct in a 3rd mystery as Hercule Poirot. Only this time, with claims of haunting, ghosts, and of course....murder. Here's my review for A HAUNTING IN VENICE!
IMO, this is the best of the 3 Branagh adaptations so far. I do agree changing the genre and the tone helped. And they focused more on a smaller batch of characters vs a huge group. I also was a huge fan of this reveal. It almost had a Shakespearean quality to it.
I do agree, the orient express twist was ruined for me since it's so popular while the Death on the Nile reveal felt lackluster. The reveal of the murder in this movie actually caught me off guard and I loved it. To me it's the best of three Poirot movies.
How was the movie? I've noticed Kenneth really struggles with the 3rd act action. I had such high hopes. He may need pointers for the reveal to help enhance it. Whataya think about my Haunting in Venice drawings on my channel? Lemme know.
Hope that Kenneth never stops making these movies because they’re just a joy to watch. He just brings so much “character” to his character if that makes sense.
He struggled again with the 3rd act execution. I was so excited after seeing the trailer. I think he needs pointers. Whataya think about my Haunting in Venice drawings on my channel? Lemme know ❤
Branagh is slowly becoming one of the best diversive directors in recent years. He directed Superhero movies like Thor, Detective movies like Murder on the Orient Express, Fantasy movies like Cinderella, dramatic films like Belfast, and now horror movies like this one! Definitely seeing this in cinemas!
Artemis Fowl, though. I won't forgive him for that one. That and also the Buffalo Bill moustache he gave Poirot and the change in backstory that Poirot fought in WWI, while he actually was a refugee, and that's why he has the moustache.
I've always wanted to do a Murder Mystery movie where there are three slightly different versions of the same movie, with three different endings. And when the movie is released, have each version play at different showtimes. Only, nothing is said to the public about it, except for little hints in the advertisements like "One viewing isn't enough" or "It'll keep you guessing". Just imagine how much attention and viewings such a film would get, not to mention when it comes out on Bluray and Streaming.
The 1985 Clue movie did the three different endings approach (they filmed a fourth but it was scrapped) and theaters each got a version while home releases had all three. It wasn't enough to make up for a film that was considered weak at the time.
@@davidw7861 I wasn't aware that Clue had already done the idea. I'll need to check that film out. That said, with social media of today, the idea can still work. Especially if one was to make each version different enough to make sense why it's this person than the other suspect. It would take a lot of thinking and planning, but I can see it working out.
I love the 80s film Clue! It’s such a great film that doesn’t get enough talk about it nowadays. I’ve seen 3x since I discovered it a few years ago. I highly recommend it if you’re looking for something fun and mysterious!
Tangent about your haunted hotel statement: I stayed in "the third most haunted hotel" in Los Angeles a few months ago (Hotel Normandie)! There was a picture in my room of a girl in a flowing dress running up the hotel stairs, and I decided that was my room's ghost. I named her Clairanne. The second night I was there, I started having horrible dreams that the friend I'd gone there to see had been in a horrific car accident. "She's dead, she died, she was in a horrible car accident, she's in the hospital dying right now, all because she came out to see you, she could've been safe at home..." So I said, "Cut it out, Clairanne," and they STOPPED IMMEDIATELY and I was able to go back to sleep. No dreams.
I had no idea she was in this until I read your comment but I haven't watched the review yet. Her being in this would take me right out of it because I would just think of her on SNL and in Mean Girls
This was my favourite Branagh Poitrot film. Helps that it’s the one I didn’t know going in and loved it. The twists and turns and the supernatural twist were great. And that little thrill when you figure it out before the film tells you. 😁
This one is based on the book "Halowe'en Party" which was one of the more "meh" Poirot mysteries. And clearly from the trailers, they took it in a completely different direction. I'm glad to hear Jeremy enjoyed this one. Going to see it tomorrow!
@@sorenpx you can read the book online for free. But like I said, it's pretty meh. I appreciate what the movie was trying to do. It did take a lot of concepts from the book.
@@dizzyizzylizzie I went ahead and ordered it last night. We'll see what I think. I do remember thinking that the Hallowe'en Party Poirot episode was good. It's kind of crazy to me to think that Christie was still putting out novels in 1969. I very much think of her as an author of the 20s and 30s, pretty much exclusively. As for the movie, I watched it last night and thought it was pretty boring and didn't really feel like Christie.
Good to see this is getting good reviews. I never seen the Hercule Poirot movies (not big on Branagh films), but seeing this be more of a thriller makes me curious.
Only ever saw Orient Express, and didn't even know it had a sequel let alone a third movie. While the first was good despite the everyone's the throw away ending definitely going to check out Death on the Nile, and Haunting as the character portrayal is perfect for Branagh as is his directing. Also love the seemingly supernatural direction each film takes. Felt that almost with the first film as well.
It's hard to change Orient Express, because that is the ending in the book and all movie/tv adaptations. To change it would be like changing the ending of Romeo and Juliet so they all live happily ever after or change the ending of Harry Potter so he dies (and stays dead). It's a "throw away ending" now 100 years later, but Agatha Christie is the one who pioneered it and others have mimicked her writing since then. Side note, I loved Death on the Nile and wish more people had gone to see it. But manage your expectations. These are meant to be adaptations of Agatha Christie novels and as such probably won't be suprising to you. No "subverting expectations" or having major "twists" you won't see coming. A hundred years ago they were suprising, but now it's unlikely. Hope you enjoy!!
Only saw _Orient Express;_ couldn’t wrap my head around all the scenes in cold snow-covered places where no one’s breath is visible… Maybe I watched Carpenter’s _Thing_ too many times!
I'm happy to hear the movie is good. Planning to see it soon. I like that we will see poirot struggling with the primal fear of fight or flight vs his always logical thinking. Also it is established that he is a ww1 so to scare a man from the trences would require something truly frightening
These movies got progressively better for me. Didn’t get into murder on the orient express much at all. Death on the Nile, I thought the first half dragged but the second was very engaging. This is the first one to keep me actively engaged from beginning to end
Just got home from seeing this, wasn't a fan of the first two but the spookiness of this intrigued me. I was very pleasantly surprised by the story, and thought a lot of the cinematography and lighting was just beautiful to look at. Not anything too special by any means, but still a good time.
When I was young I stayed at a resort in San Miguel de Allende studying horseback dressage. The hotel had a book library that had numerous Agatha Christy paperbacks. I began reading one.... And then another, and then another.... Until I finished them all. They are like 'popcorn', or potato chips - you just can't stop devouring them. I sincerely hope Kenneth Branagh continues to make more and more of these as there are plenty more to be made. He is bringing new light, new cinematography, new ambiance to these quite older style stories. They deserve to be made fresh - like the Marvel comics did 15 to 20 years ago when Ironman, Thor (etc) suddenly and quite unexpectedly made comic books come to life in film. Let these vintage murder mysteries breathe on film now, lift them from their paperback containment, for new generations to get to know and enjoy them. I will be seated front row center, with a bucket of popcorn on my lap and a great big smile on my face.
Loved orient express. Death on the Nile I guessed the end within a half hour. I feel like they just laid it out so obviously. “Where’s my red paint???” Like cmon.
The old 90s TV show of Poirot made by BBC with David Suchet is fantastic. I grew up with it, have fond memories of lots of episodes, i think this new movies pale in comparison
Nitpicky but it's an ITV show, but indeed Suchet IS Poirot and the series adapted every Christie written Poirot story. I much prefer the TV series over these movies, which have way too much CGI going on. Compare Death On the Nile, the movie is a VFX fest, while the movie length TV episode has on location shooting. And don't get me started on this third movie making Christie's stand in character of Ariadne Oliver American in this.
I don't really need growth from a character like this. I'm happy for him to be a stand-in for us, and the cast and mystery around him to be the star tbh. He's delightful as Poirot, but movies and books like this truly succeed for me when the mystery is incredible, and it has me thinking and acting like the protagonist to solve it along with them.
Since these are adaptations of nigh-century old novels, I don't go into them expecting suspense or a suprising reveal at the end. It seems to me that Branagh assumes his audience knows the ending and focuses on making the entire experience as movie-magical as possible. Some people may see that as unfocused or anticlimactic, but I enjoy seeing such amazing images and quality spread throughout the entire story. It's just a matter of preference, though. If you only like a mystery because you are trying to figure out "whodunit" then you only get enjoyment out of seeing it once, maybe twice (to pick up on the clues once you know the ending). But if you are there for the journey of the characters, the cinematography, the tone/atmosphere, you can enjoy it many times over.
Branagh definitely took a significant step back with that 2nd film. This one gets the series back on the right track. I really like a well done whodunnit movie, and Orient Express/Haunting in Venice both deliver a good time and well done 3rd act revelations.
Absolutely loved this movie. Watched it last night and the cinematography and manipulation of sound is sublime. This is the best of the three and Branagh’s direction is superb. This must be seen at the cinema.
Took my Mom to see this today. We both enjoyed it a lot. It was beautiful. Also, this one is the funniest of the three. I was surprised at how much humour was packed in there, without detracting from it being the mystery/(horror?) that it primarily is.
As someone who wasn't a huge fan of the first two Poirot films, this succeeded on wild camera tricks, atmosphere and conflict with Hercule accepting not everything is laid out as he thinks.
Literally just watched it. Pretty good, the author was annoying one too many times, mystery was very well executed with many hints and references that could give you clues of whodunnit. Agree with the review, worth watching 👍
I would rank these three Hercule Poirot films in the following order: A Haunting in Venice, Death on the Nile, Murder on the Orient Express. I know that this is just the series in order of most recent release, but I think that each film has gotten better. I really enjoyed this one because it is quite different from the other two in terms of tone and execution.
What book do you think they'll adopt next? I agree with your list. This is the best outta the 3, but he needs to enhance the mystery and 3rd act reveal. Whataya think about my Haunting in Venice drawings on my channel? Lemme know.
Nice review Jeremy! We really loved the first two of Kenneth Branagh's Hercule Poirot films, really looking forward to A Haunting in Venice. Here's hoping he does a fourth one!!
I haven't seen any of the other Brannagh Poirot movies but I knew I had to see this one because it hits my personal sweet spot for whodunnits: The Ghost Story subgenre. Idky but Whodunnits that are also Ghost Stories/about confronting the paranormal just tickle me. Jonathan Creek: The Nightmare Room, RDJ Sherlock Holmes also fall into this category. It's that little bit of extra horror movie spice I feel.
This gets me stoked, I really enjoyed the previous 2 films so hearing this might be the best of the 3 is awesome. I hope they keep this series going. It feels like this weird fun series thats not popular enough to be milked dry with a yearly film but good enough to keep going every 2 or 3 years
The best parts of this film (and Nile) are when Poirot is allowed to be a detective. Watching, analyzing, waiting, pouncing. Who wasn’t thrilled when he revealed the typewriter’s true nature (especially so early in the film, to have a solution presented to anything so quickly.) Orient failed because Poirot wasn’t shown enough times to be this incredibly intuitive, analytical crime-solver; more like a conjurer and superhero w/ a cane and pointlessly large moos-tash. Nile and Venice are much more involving, less inert. Building up to something, thanks to Poirot’s classic questioning tactic in which the parties give info w/o realizing they are informing on themselves…then keeping what he gleans to himself until the right moment.
I enjoyed all of them but think this may be my favourite too. I liked the atmospherical setting and I felt like Poirot’s character got a bit more depth. Him being all disheartened by life made him sympathetic and made for a decent little character arc.
I keep hoping for a David Suchet cameo or something in these. The definitive portrayer of Poirot meeting the new-ish torch bearer. Make it happen, Brannagh!
I saw it today, enjoyed it immensely. Kenneth Branagh truly is Hercule Poirot, he simply is the character in a way that will put any future attempts at the character to shame. I enjoyed the "whodunit" atmosphere the movie created, really good entertainment.
Just saw it and I agree, definitely best if the Branagh trilogy! Loved the spooky tone throughout! Managed to guess the murderer and murder tool correctly but it took quite a while, and I missed some crucial details along with another major twist, so kudos to the film's handling of the mystery and it's misdirections!
Saw it today. It is stunning on big screen and you'll really feel the eery sounds coming from alternating sides of the cinema which made me feel gladly creeped out.
i’m glad this is the more exciting of the 3- i loved the first 2 but like he said mostly because it’s so fun to watch Branagh’s version of this character. i still can’t believe he’s the bad guy from Tenet. can’t wait to see this
I don’t know how prolific the Poirot character is in America. In Europe, he’s rather well known from the 80’s TV-murder/mystery series. I think these films do the legacy justice well enough. I just think that these stories excel best with a runtime between 45-90 minutes, which is what the TV-series had. If this film goes that direction, I’m very much here for it👌🏻
Saw it yesterday! Loved it! In fact, I liked this one better than the first two, and I really liked Orient Express. A cool movie and fun stuff to follow. Creepy. A truly creepy movie. Haven't seen anything creepy in a long time. They always go for some shock or whatever, and this one surprises you, and stays on that creepy ride. Great review! Oh, and 3, 1, 2.
If Kenneth is going to adapt all of the major books in Poirot's series, it'll have to end with Curtain. That being said, I hope it takes a while to get there. We haven't met Hastings yet.
This one is my favorite of the series now, followed by "Death on the Nile" and then "Murder on the Orient Express", but all three were excellent. The trailer threw me off at first because it seemed to change the series' genre from murder mystery to horror, but after seeing the movie it fit. It was odd that they chose to adapt Agatha Christie's book "Hallowe'en Party" since that is not as well-known as the other two books were, but the changes made for the adaptation worked and it was fun spotting the elements of the original story sprinkled throughout. The atmosphere was very creepy, especially with most of the action taking place in an old Venice building during a storm surrounded by the rising canal. All the actors gave great performances, the music added to the literally haunting atmosphere, and the twists and turns mostly kept me guessing. If they decide to make any more of these, maybe they can adapt some of the shorter stories and combine three short films into one, reminiscent of the television series with David Suchet as Poirot. I'm tempted to want them to figure out a way to insert Poirot into "And Then There Were None" since that is my favorite of Christie's books, but having him there would ruin the ending 😁.
I saw the movie on Sunday! They love those loud noise jump scares! I loved the framing of the characters. It was interesting that they often framed Poirot where they were looking down at him from a sharp angle. Also the extra headroom on some characters. I’m not sure what it was meant to imply, but would love a discussion.
I will be interested to see if I enjoy this one given that it has a different title to the book. The first two were more Fathull adaptations, but that wasn't surprising given they are two of the most critically acclaimed books of all time.
This was a pretty good movie, going in I was pretty hesitant because I personally was not a fan of the previous 2 Hercule Poirot movies, mainly for the same reason as to why I didn’t like Knives Out, which is that for me I’m not really into murder mysteries, I don’t know what it is about them but nevertheless it’s a genre that’s never really interested me, and so I didn’t really have much interest in this one going in, but I actually had a fairly good time with it, Kenneth Branagh is good as Hercule Poirot, which did surprise me because one of my criticisms with the previous 2 movies is that I found Kenneth Branagh’s performance kinda cartoony, like he was purposely trying to be over the top in order to create more of an old timey feel or something, but here he dials it back which I did appreciate, there was also this little boy who I thought was pretty charming and had some solid dialogue throughout the movie, I think the biggest positive this movie has is the setting, Halloween is my favorite holiday and so having it set during then really appealed to me and having actual horror elements interwoven into the story made this one feel a lot more unique than the others, as far as negatives go I would say that there weren’t really any other characters that I cared about, it felt like most of them were just there to be suspects and nothing more, and I think this movie suffers from the 2 elements that I think are the main reasons as to why I’m not into murder mysteries, one is that like I said I feel like pretty much all of them are always trying to replicate the cheesy, old timey feel of the 1970’s or something, resulting in them always feeling like they’re being intentionally corny, that’s one of the reasons I loved The Hateful Eight, unlike most murder mystery movies it felt modern, the other thing these movies always suffer from is that in order to make these stories they always result in a very convoluted story that’s usually always given to us in the form of a big exposition dump at the very end, and I personally am not the super analytical type and so that’s a big reason as to why these movies pretty much always lose me, and lastly I wasn’t a fan of the actual séance scene, mainly due to Michelle Yeoh, her acting during that scene became way too over the top, to the point where I quite frankly thought it was kinda embarrassing, but I surprisingly thought this movie was pretty good, I wouldn’t say it’s a movie I’d run out to see again but for being a movie I only chose because there was nothing I really wanted to see this weekend I had a pretty good time with it, the acting is good, I liked the setting as well as the horror integration and for a genre I had pretty much given up hope for liking it delivered a pretty entertaining time. 6/10
Highly recommend it 🤙 it's surprisingly more tense than I thought walking in, assumed it'll be more comedic for some reason but they really leaned into the horror aspects. It was a great time that genuinely made me jump a lot
Saw it today and loved it. Put me in a Halloween kind of mood despite it being sunny and 90 degrees here today. My trilogy ranking would have to be 2,3,1 but I loved all three movies.
ranking: 2,1,3 - This most recent one wasn't bad at all, but there was less novelty for me overall. Death on the Nile was the first Poirot movie that I saw and love it. I saw the 1st movie shortly thereafter and loved it. I've watched many of the BBC episodes since then so at this point, the novelty of the character and his quirks have worn off. The story was great for the most recent movie. Setting was great. I thought the mystery was fairly straight forward - while I didn't get everything correct (did not guess that the bodyguard was working for Tina Fay), the origin of the supernatural stuff was easy to figure out overall. It was a fun watch. I hope they eventually decide to do Poirot seasonal show akin to the BBC's Sherlock - it would be fantastic.
Finally saw the movie. Well done technically and the setting in Venice was exquisite. The remarkable fact is that Venice actually looks even better in reality. No stage set designer or CGI could ever hope to come close. In that regard, it was a bit of a bummer that so much of the action took place in one place instead of enlisting such a great venue to move the plot. SPOILER: the allusion at the end with the ghost girlie was cheap theatrics; if they wanted to draw irony between the way mommy dearest died and what happened to daughter dearest, then there were more subtle ways it could have been done. BTW, the ""daddy-issues" that the kid who actually did the blackmail is gonna have will set a new standard for psychological trauma despite the cute coda of forgiveness the story attempts. Finally, Branagh brings a dimensional depth to Poirot that the other recently celebrated interpreters simply did not. In each of his films, he has shown a complexity of interpersonal relationships that the previous screenplays never even attempted. In this case, he was far more polite to the Ariadne Oliver character than she deserved, but one is definitely left with the impression that they shall not be exchanging Christmas cards anymore. Good. She is a disgusting character and if they ever bring her back, it should be as a victim---very early in the film.
Speaking of, I miss my H4n; I sold it to a colleague. On the other hand, I now have a Saramonic Smart Rig UC, and it works pretty good, under the right circumstances. May the ghosts, or rough handling, treat your recording device well.
2:43 … 😂☠️ it’s so true! As a Christian myself, but whether I was or wasn’t, it’s the funniest and most ironic thing hearing somebody be so confident in their non-belief of an afterlife, but then being terrified to go to a haunted house. Or saying something like “I swear to God”. Like, if you don’t believe in an afterlife, why are you afraid of haunted houses? If there’s no afterlife, there’s no such thing as ghosts. And then the main response I get from anybody who claims atheism, but says something like “I swear to God” is, “it’s just an expression”. To which I’m like, “mhm, sure”🤔😂
This is not a Poirot story by Agatha Christie. This is an adaptation that is so loosely based on the original material that it’s depressing. The material has been changed to be more frightening more Hollywood just like some of the scenes altered in Orient Express and Death on the Nile. All of these are being done out of order. I recommend the books. Christie was an amazing author. And I also recommend her stand alone novels. And Then There Was One is one of my favorites.
I didn’t hate the first one but I really despised the second one so I was literally going to wait for this review to determine if it was worth seeing , guess I will give it a try.
Can’t wait to see it. Nice to see a movie thats not filled with modern messages and is just a fun film. Also the first two I thought where terrific. Love the mystery movies.
I got to see an advanced screening of this and I was actually pretty impressed! Is it a groundbreaking film? No. But it succeeds in what it sets out to do, it's well-made, the direction is fun, and it has a fun aesthetic. I can see this being added to my yearly seasonal film rotation.
Even though I have absolutely no intention of ever watching any of Kenneth Branagh's Poirot adaptations, I love Jeremy's movie reviews!! P.S. I just love Agatha Christie too much to watch Kenneth Branagh murder Poirot's character.
Kenneth Branagh is a great Gilderoy Lockhart. He is NOT Hercule Poirot. There's only one Hercule Poirot and that's David Suchet. And considering Suchet is still very much alive, I just can't watch these films without constantly being like "David Suchet would have done this so much better".
Watching you transform from Jeremy the Black to Jeremy the almost-hints-of-grey is fascinating. I'm 40, and have few greys except my beard. You will age well, comrade.
Only saw _Orient Express;_ couldn’t wrap my head around all the scenes in cold snow-covered places where no one’s breath is visible… Maybe I watched Carpenter’s _Thing_ too many times!
