I’m still looking for the perfect detective game. I recently talked about two that were great, but with notable flaws (especially Murders on the Yangtze River (OMEGAMES STUDIO)).I know that there is no way to make a perfect anything, but I think I could come close. Here is my last post about the subject, which I wrote a few days ago.
Hercule Poirot is my favorite fictional detective. There are many things so wrong with the books (and the TV series), but I manage to overlook that as I read/watch (classism, racism, homophobia, sexism, etc.). I will say that I get frustrated when the TV series strays too far from the books, but I recgonize tha tthey are two very different things.
I will say, though, that we do not need another Poirot played by a British actor. David Suchet was the Platonic ideal of Poirot, and no one can do it better. I have not seen the Branagh movies, but I winced at the overacting in the trailers.
Honestly, the only thing I want is a series from his younger years when he was on the Belgian police force, and I want Poirot to be played by an actual Belgian actor. There is one case that was set back in those days, and it would be a great way to start off the series. Or end it. Either way, it’s one of the only cases in which Poirot will admit to making a mistake. It’s called The Chocolate Box, and the TV series did do a version of it. Would not mind another if, as I said, Poirot is played by a Belgian actor.
I have read every novel at least three times, and some of them up to dozens of time. I’ve watched the entire series six or seven times as well. I have seen every movie prior to the Branagh ones. I will say the worst one was the Molina one, through no fault of his own. It was set in modern (for that time) times, which meant cell phones, laptops, and pdas. And they changed the roles of several of the characters to make them more modern as well. They had a stellar cast, but that was wasted by the horrible script.
I will say, though, that the Poirot version is probably one of the weaker episodes of the series as it changes the ending severely in a way that was very off-putting. Still. He was amazing in it as always.
Fun fact: David Suchet played Chief Inspector Japp in the Peter Ustinov version of Thirteen at Dinner. For some unimaginable reason, the director decided he should be eating all the time. It was fun to see him in that role, but, of course, he’s much better as Poirot.