One has to admire the tenacity of director and star Kenneth Branagh, clearly deciding Agatha Christie’s dusty “whodunit’s” need to be re-invented and brought to the big screen for a third go around.

Previous efforts Murder On The Orient Express and Death On The Nile did enough business to secure the next budget. Here we have Hercule Poirot, resting in Venice while his attendant bodyguard keeps anyone wanting to hire him well away.

Meeting with struggling author friend “Ariadne Oliver” (Tina Fey), Poirot is eventually persuaded to try to debunk a renowned medium “Joyce Reynolds” (Michelle Yeoh). The setting, an arranged seance to bring back the daughter of opera singer “Rowena Drake” (Kelly Reilly) who committed suicide, Oliver needing a hit obviously senses an opportunity.

The palazzo where the event is taking place is believed to be haunted by orphan children abandoned to their fate during a plague by the nun’s charged with their care. Arguably an unsettling place to hold such an event, what could possibly go wrong.

When the seance goes haywire, with definite nods to aspects of horror, a further death then occurs, implicating all those in attendance. In classic Christie style, everyone has a motive and there are more red herrings than a fish market at sunset.

The cast is strong, joining those already mentioned are Camille Cottin, Jude Hill, Jamie Dornan. Clearly the film has used aspects of location shooting but much of the action is staged in a purpose built Palazzo within a studio.

In the era of Knives Out, director Branagh is obliged to shake up the creaky drawing style mystery, with wacky camera angles, elements of horror and the occasional jump scare. Nothing to cause the target audience to clutch their pearls with cinematography tending towards the Gothic style, seeking every spooky nook and cranny.

Yeoh is criminally under used, Fey does her best in a thin character and Branagh enjoys rocking his usual colossal moustache, worthy of a film in itself. Young Jude Hill makes an impression but overall the film struggles to transcend it’s dusty origins despite the star power on offer. Arguably this has been consistent theme throughout the trilogy, failing to fully utilise the theatrical talent on offer.

When we get to see the real Venice rather than a sound-stage, the drone shots look fantastic, notably with no cruise ships in evidence, whether by chance or CGI clean up is debatable.

Summary

Worth a look for those who enjoy a “whodunit” but the series is beginning to outstay it’s welcome, it may be time for Poirot to finally retire to tend his immaculate garden in his usual fastidious manner.