A HAUNTING IN VENICE (2023) - Review

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Kenneth Brannagh returns for a third outing as Agatha Christie's master detective Hercule Poirot in a timed-for-Halloween haunted house themed thriller that cleverly pits the famous rationalist against a threat that at least wants to APPEAR supernatural in origin: Summoned to a supposedly haunted Venetian Palazzo to debunk a supposedly psychic medium (Michelle Yeoh); Poirot instead finds himself with a series of fresh murders to solve and possibly also that of the "ghost" that was meant to be contacted in the first place. Leaner, grittier and more kinetic than the previous "big stars in fancy locations" installments; but still leaning deliberately and successfully into the unique blend of "They don't make 'em like THIS anymore!" retro-melodrama and sleuth-as-superhero iconography aesthetics - another winning installment for the 2020s unlikeliest - but most welcome! - blockbuster franchise.
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[@CornishCreamtea07]

In a way it's good that he was adapting lesser known Agatha Christie Novels, I feel with Murder on the Orient Express it had already been adapted enough already.

[@tjpeluso]

Like a good music act, you have to lure the casuals in with the hits before knocking their socks off with the deep tracks.

[@Adamnme01]

Poirot's moustache needs it's own headline credit

[@lazylazymule]

The moustache is played by Daniel Day-Lewis. He grew his hair out for two years with no shaves or haircuts to get the part.

[@andrewklang809]

Wake me when it gets its own love interest.

[@ematuskey]

They need to hurry up and cast Sam Elliott in one of these so he and Poirot can have a bristle-off.

[@alexanderhammil6754]

it got two origin stories in the last one of these, a love interest isn’t out of the realm of possibility

[@nickbell8353]

It would have to compete with Anson Mount's pompadour.

[@crithon]

give the man credit, HE SWING FOR THE FENCES! Sometimes it's meh, but other times, you get little details like in Thor 1, the shot of the two brothers and Odin.... it's so iconic, that it nails the characters for over 10 years.

[@FranciscoAreasGuimaraes]

Hear, hear. When he finishes all Poirot stories, get Hellen Mirren to do Ms Marple

[@hfreyse8931]

This may have been the first time I ever out-loud "OOOOH!"'ed in amazed agreement at a YT comment!

[@tjzambonischwartz]

I hope Kenny boy keeps making Poirot films and Rian Johnson keeps making Benoit Blanc mysteries and I'll be a happy camper

[@ematuskey]

I want them to keep making more of these (I love big-budget historical mysteries), but I'll be very curious to see how this one does, being the first not based on one of the classic Christie movies that everyone's heard of. Fingers crossed it does gangbusters and studios see the response to these and the Benoit Blanc films to start churning more whodunits out!

[@danielramsey6141]

Honestly, the Premise alone about a Detective trying to solve a mid-night murder within a haunted building, while done to some extent, I don’t think this idea has been done before to this degree! And having a person question their own sanity while trying to solve a murder that happened within the space of time granted is genuinely interesting.

[@thetribunaloftheimaginatio5247]

The continuing adventures of EARTH'S MIGHTIEST MUSTACHE!

[@alexandredesbiens-brassard9109]

Aah, no mention of Artemis Fowl in that glowing profile of Bannagh as a durector? 🤪

[@Doodlesthegreat]

I'd also like to see Branaugh take on some of the lesser known Poirot stories. "The Clapham Cook" would have been excellent, but I think the new series has already aged past that.

[@johnathonhaney8291]

Kenneth Branagh is one of those rarities as a true auteur writer/director/actor: someone who never stops trying to break the mold of his self-image by going in weird directions. Unlike, say, Zack Snyder, he's mostly successful because he has the talent and skill to back up the ambition.

[@jadedheartsz]

I think Snyder is plenty talented and succesful.

[@iansteelmatheson]

@@jadedheartsz he's successful, but he's not 5% as talented as he clearly thinks he is. seen 300 recently? it does not hold up. at all. Watchmen utterly butchers the original intent of Alan Moore (especially Rorschach), and the less said about his DCEU movies the better.

[@johnathonhaney8291]

​@@jadedheartszNot on Branagh's level and it shows.

[@ashleyjohnson1129]

I hate to give the creep credit, but I suspect Snyder is in that weird Michael Bay category of influential.

[@jadedheartsz]

nah he's plenty talented, Watchmen film is perfectly fine, i'm with Moviebob in preferring the film's ending over the books and his DCEU movies are damn good i'm with Angry Joe on Man of Steel@@iansteelmatheson

[@GuiltyOne438]

If I can make a comment, I actually read Hallow'een Party when I was younger, and while I haven't seen this movie yet I cannot for the life of me see where anything from the novel aside from Ariande Oliver shows up in the trailer so far. The novel was about (and I'm not spoiling anything that wasn't described on the back of the book here) a girl being drowned in the apple-bobbing tub at a standard kids' halloween party after she announces that she just realized she witnessed a murder. There is no seance, no creepy children, and Poirot isn't even at the party where the death happens (Oliver was, and brings the case to him after the fact). So where exactly is the connective tissue here!?!

[@AdamYJ]

Some of the names are the same. And the bit about drowning in an apple-bobbing tub nearly happens to Poirot himself. It is mostly its own story, though. Which isn't bad.

[@Juliett-A]

Up until just now, I thought Pierce Brosnan had been playing the lead character in these movies. I am... really bad with faces.

[@katherinealvarez9216]

I'm trying to remember if David Suchet also did an adaptation of this, but the other Halloween mystery I had watched I believe was different.

[@white_finch]

It was, "Halloween Party" was the second episode of season 12. "Haunting in Venice" is supposed to be a adaptation of that story, but they changed so much that you will enjoy it more if you see it as an original story rather than an adaptation

[@BrotherAlpha]

That ending card. ... Yeah, I noticed that as well.

[@Rubberman202]

Did Disney own Marvel when the first Thor was released in theaters? I thought it was after Captain America: The First Avenger that the MCU officially became a Disney thing, and that beforehand Marvel Studios was independent, with their movies distributed through Paramount. I suppose none of that matters now, since it's officially Disney in the present.

[@RIVEXNGLE]

You've always had solid opinions and execute a great delivery with the synopsis. So, I don't think the shades matter!

[@ASpaceOstrich]

Some "glitches" in this video bob. You say something about "just as contagion to get to the part where" which I assume is from the end/beginning of a clip getting cut off, and it happens again a couple of times near the end.

[@jasonblalock4429]

1:50 Wow that is some amazing ham. I haven't watched his Hamlet since it came out, and perhaps that's for the best. (At least his Henry V and Much Ado are still awesome.)

[@TheGerkuman]

I love the Branagh Hamlet. He gives the title character just the right amount of ham, and the rest of the cast is amazing.

[@jackeldridge4225]

You know the whole AC Detective who done it genre has never reeeeally been my style. But 3 in row with great reviews. I got a binge watch night coming.

[@sundoga4961]

Wasn't a huge fan of the first two - Poirot was too action prone. This is not an action hero, he's an intellectual who resolves everything with mental acumen.

[@WritesMe]

Same reason we can't get a Holmes for grownups.

[@claytonrios1]

It's funny that the book that this is based on is considered one of Agatha Christies lesser works. But its a loose adaptation so there's less of a risk here.

[@TDawgBR]

This one had shades of one the first movies of Branagh's that I saw back in the early 90s - Dead Again. And yeah, I really enjoy these as well, but I'll say the first 3 minutes of the film felt a bit like he was trolling those of us who criticized him for excessive use of Dutch angles a decade or so back.

[@MysteicVoltronus]

Why do people keep committing murders in this guys orbit or in the same room as him? Its like committing a murder IN a police department.

[@wanderlking8634]

Did the audio about Kelly Reilly get clipped? I assume it was a reference to her role in Yellowstone?

[@arvidp.247]

There were some weird cuts in this video.

[@djkangal]

Counting down to Shlocktober Bob 😁😁😁

[@Conner6742]

Wow! I didn't even know there was a new one out already... How does time work?

[@gregoryvn3]

After the past few years, I don't think time is working anymore.

[@dwsparks1]

Time keeps on slippin', slippin', slippin' into the future

[@Windupchronic]

I think I'd probably like these movies more if I hadn't read the books. I feel like Poirot himself would consider this iteration _tres grossier_ .

[@EdSigma]

Absolutely on the same page here Bob, I had a lot of fun with this. I am very familiar with the original story, I think it was the second or third Poirot story I ever experienced, so it was fun in this seeing the ways they riffed on the original. I can see this becoming a Halloween favourite in years to come.

[@rumblerumble2276]

I LOVED Murder on the Orient Express, but HATED Death on the Nile. I’m looking forward to this and hoping for the best.

[@BlackCanary87]

I would have expected Evil Under the Sun next, but I'm looking forward to this one!

[@nemowindsor8724]

Kenneth Bran-ham is my jam. Definitely will see this soon!

[@MariaVosa]

Well, I knew the day would come eventually. The day I totally disagreed with Bob's opinion. Branagh's self-indulgent, weirdly paced and staged movies are some of the worst adaptations of Christie's brilliant novels I've ever seen. But I'm ok with other people finding joy in them, they're just not for me. I won't be seeing this one at all, but I will admit the poster is a piece of art.

[@UnreasonableOpinions]

I didn't like these movies as much as I did other versions of the same - and it felt a bit weird to me that the started with the story that felt the most end-of-series for a film and the one that had the hardest competition to live up to - but even decent Christie mysteries make for good watching. I will take all the absurd characters solving overdramatic murder films they care to make and watch them all.

[@tvsonicserbia5140]

Thor is much much better than it has any right to be

[@gothic138]

Went and saw this on your recommendation. My wife and I loved it.

[@thevikingbear2343]

What Im interested in is why he got the muscache back. At the end of Death on The Nile Poirot cuts the mustache so he can accept a huge scar on his face the mustach was designed to hide, and thus help him heal of the trauma of war. It is a beautiful melancholic ending that recontextualizes the funny and foolish mustache into a bandage that he carried around for years and couldn't let go of before because he had not healed. It was great. Now in this movie he has the stach back so I really need to know if they are gonna undo all that character work for Poirot or address it in a satisfying way. It is a pickle because the mustache is the most famous thing about this series but also the character should not need it anymore as per the story they decided to tell in the last movie.

[@SaintofM]

Because the mustach must outlive the actor

[@FistoftheSnackBar]

My no prize answer is that he did that, accepted his trauma and made peace with it, and then decided to grow it back, but this time just because he *liked* it; embracing it as a personal signature and deliberate choice rather than a trauma response. He faced down the man in the mirror, healed, and said "man...I miss my mustache!" Lol

[@jjmcook]

@@FistoftheSnackBar Also, it seems slightly less extravagant than before. Perhaps some of the scar shows through now.

[@ASpaceOstrich]

Branding probably.

[@lexslate2476]

Another good one by the 'stachemaster? Nice.

[@ewhac]

5:23: Then dude, get yourself a teleprompter -- which is a piece of glass at a 45-degree angle over a tablet computer. And if you don't have a tablet computer, I have spares...

[@OSheaDean]

Going to count this as a Hallowe'en watch 🎃

[@SuperQuadocky]

thank you for your reviews over the years. They are always so great.

[@TheCreepypro]

I like having detectives movies making a comeback

[@MrSloth42]

"and that's why we usually shoot with the shades..." It didn't bother me, really. Yes, I noticed his eyes darting to the script, but these videos are about listening instead of seeing. I get why you wear them, Bob, but I don't think you're going to alienate your fans if you don't.

[@moknbyrd]

Excuse me. I need to go to the ER. I think I have whiplash from this review.

[@arvidp.247]

So I'm not the only one who felt this was fast-paced even for Bob's standards, good.

[@louisduarte8763]

"Mr. Statin'" sounds like "Mr. Satan". Was that a DBZ reference?

[@meander112]

The people united will never be defeated! ✊

[@gregoryvn3]

Now this was a surprise.

[@JnEricsonx]

Nile was in theaters though.

[@QuietM4n]

I know that's a clip from Hamlet but if you told me it was from some parody making fun of Kenneth Branagh I'd believe you.

[@TheGerkuman]

I love that scene

[@kerrizor]

Once you get the rhythm down, you can more or less _babble_ in iambic pentameter and people will be _amazed_ at your command of Shakespeare.

[@mabusestestament]

Glad you liked it. I liked the first one for the specific resolution of the ‘who dunnit’ mystery, but that’s something you can only pull once, the second movie wasn’t good imo (and looked very fake in a non-charming way).

[@gstone8255]

I wonder What Branagh will dirceted next ❓🤔

[@Jaxomh]

Is the blurring a way of avoiding copyright takedowns?

[@KevinTheTimeGeek86]

He has said as much in the past.

[@Jaxomh]

@@KevinTheTimeGeek86 Cool. Annoying that companies go after people doing good work like he does.

[@ZachBobBob]

Shocked as hell that Bob loves these movies

[@Taigan_HSE]

Nice to see why Bob usually wears sunglasses for these.

[@Thessalin]

Oh it's fine. I'm not coming to these for your eye movement.

[@PainCausingSamurai]

I didn't even know they were adapting a 3rd book for this series

[@Emplordxiii]

Funny you say that because the first trailer didn’t even show Hercule Poirot until the very end to tell the audience that, “yeah…we made a third part.”

[@jadedheartsz]

I Initially thought this film was another entry in the Haunting in Connecticut franchise LOL

[@mikesands4681]

Glad you don't wear shades anymore

[@adrianomoraes5992]

That's no criticism but is it just me that this one with fake ghosts sounds a lot like Scooby Doo?

[@digitaljanus]

Yeah, but Sherlock Holmes did stuff like this in stories over a hundred years ago so there's precedent. Also interesting, considering Arthur Conan Doyle himself actually believed in spiritualism and talking to the dead.

[@edstevens2772]

The hell was he saying at 4:48?

[@TrappyJenkins]

He needs a cross over with benoit blanc

[@Ruskles06]

Hopefully all the people who complain about superhero fatigue put their money where their mouths are and go watch this....

[@vazak11]

Cool!

[@Strivez]

Agatha crispy

[@HappyHighwayman]

Murder on the Nile was dumb

[@Syurtpiutha]

For some reason this showed up in my feed as 'A Haunting in Venice (2008) - review'. Weird.

[@orleanknight]

Clearly copy and paste typo from the most recent uploads.

[@Syurtpiutha]

@@orleanknight On the video itself it was 2023. Still, struck me as funny. Not a big deal, mind. And +1 comment for the algorithm. :)

[@rodawallace]

Engagery for Algor Ythmic Enumerational Embiggenment.

[@rocko7711]

👍

[@rocko7711]

❤❤

[@benjdelphi]

I hate these movie, he does not get the character because the character lacks the humanity that makes Hercule not just a shitty Sherlock Holmes.

[@gentlemandemon]

Eh, I was really underwhelmed by Death on the Nile, which probably tells me I won't like this one.

[@Roseknight888]

I saw that ;)

[@NorthernSeaWitch]

You say you want a dozen more but if the next one sucks donkey balls you'll have to eat some crow, probably.

[@TheGerkuman]

Why? Because he was wrong once on the internet about a poirot movie?

[@susanbooth6793]

I have yet to meet a Christie fan who actually likes these adaptations.

[@Bllurr1]

Granted I don't usually go looking for Christie fans, but I can at least count my mother. She's read every Christie book and seen every movie, and she loves these.

[@arvidp.247]

@@Bllurr1 That's interesting. My mother is also a big fan of the books and likes many of the old movies but she didn't like Branagh's Orient Express.

[@AdamYJ]

[Shrug] Just like the people who make superhero movies don't really care what comic book fans think. I doubt Branagh and company care what Christie fans thiink.

[@samwill7259]

Didn't the strikers give our very firm rules about influencers not covering studio movies during the strike? Is that not what you're doing right now?

[@moviebobcentral]

They did. I am, however, not an influencer - I'm a film critic. And a review is not a promotion, it's journalism (reporting of opinion.)

[@n00dl3s]

Dude, please just stop using clips if you insist on making them blurred to the point of being actively annoying.

[@TasteOfButterflies]

"if you insist" like he does it because of a personal quirk and not because he got like a hundred malicious copyright complaints.

[@rodefshalom]

Gal Gadot is Israeli, not French. You pronounce the “t”.

[@Plexippuspetersi92]

So there's a multi-movie contract with the Christie estate is there?