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Damo (1)
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The 1974 adaptation is one of the few Sidney Lumet films I haven't seen. It's been on my watch list for a while but kept getting pushed down by newer releases I was more excited about or urged by others to prioritise. I finally made my way far enough down the list that it was at the top, only for the trailer for the 2017 remake to steal its thunder.
I decided against watching the 1974 version so I could go in "fresh" -- just watched the new one at the cinema last night and I didn't like it.
I liked Depp playing a character with some nuance for the first time in a while, and Willem Dafoe gave a strong performance for the first half of the film, but I found everyone else very made-for-TV cartoonish and hammy. The CGI for the train added to the cartoonish feel, when it was required for anything more than a static shot it reminded me of The Polar Express (or at least what I remember from the trailer for it).
Overall the tone was too corny for me, standout examples being the "Zees books are full of -- what iz your word for chocolat? Fudge? ZAY ARE FULL OF FUDGE", the last supper tableau and the reasoning behind not only who committed the murder but Poirot's response to it... eye roll inducing stuff.
As I left the theatre I realised that the ending [i]had[/i] been previously revealed to me after all, care of an episode of 30 Rock that I must have watched at least four times by now... the episode itself references the 1974 movie and yet the idea that it was being faithful to the ending of the film seemed so ridiculous to me that I didn't pay it any mind...
Anyway, I'm still keen to watch Sidney Lumet's take on it... just disappointed that I rolled the dice on going in fresh on this one when I probably should have just watched tthe 1974 version as it came up.
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