Spoonatects Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

Aiden Melton The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

Jonah Abbott There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Allison Davies The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

grantss Hercule Poirot is ailing, and close to death. He travels to the estate Styles to convalesce and invites his old friend Hastings to join him. Styles has a nostalgic significance to Poirot as it was the location for the first case that Poirot and Hastings solved together. Poirot's reasons for calling Hastings down are not all about nostalgia or farewells - he believes a murder is going to be committed and, being unable to walk, he needs Hastings to be his eyes and ears. Hastings has another interest in being there - his daughter, Judith works there, as an assistant to chemist Dr Franklin. Sure enough, within a few days, Dr Franklin's wife dies, poisoned. The inquest calls it suicide, but to Hastings and Poirot it looks like murder. Problem is, the prime suspect is Hastings' daughter...The final Poirot, and probably the worst of all the Poirots, plot- wise. Poirot is completely out of character here. Always the one for high-mindedness, idealism, obeying Christian values and justice through the courts, here he becomes a vigilante and murderer. Even worse, his target is not a murderer, but merely a master-manipulator. The other issue with this is the notion that you're not responsible for your own actions. If you murder someone but someone subtly manipulated you into doing it, it's their fault, not yours. What nonsense! (Though consistent with the sort of bs the media and many Facebook warriors trundle out regularly).The only thing keeping this from being a very unsatisfactory end to the series is the emotional value. Quite sad to see Poirot in the state he's in. Nostalgic to see him reunited with Hastings, especially in the same place they first worked together. The introduction of Hastings' daughter also adds an element of generational change and the passing of time.Overall: Not terrible but Poirot deserves a better send-off than this.

bob the moo This final episode in the final season of Poirot is one I have seen before, and done so recently. This made it stand out for me as I really had seen very few of the ITV films before, which is partly why I took the decision to watch all of them over the last year or so, starting with the first and working forward to this point. Knowing the ending and detail was actually pretty enjoyable because it freed me up to pay more attention to what I knew would be important, however this was not the key difference in this viewing. The bigger difference came from me not just watching as an one-off event to see event television, but rather I was drawing to a close a character and series I greatly enjoyed – so there was a certain base of feeling and engaging that perhaps had not been there the first time.That said, this did not make me feel it was artificially better than I remembered, because I did enjoy it the first time round, and second time round only moreso. The plot does have elements which are not convincing, but the delivery and the general intrigue of the plot does very much keep it moving and encourage you to go with much of it. It is a very finely crafted script, which is refreshingly back in the normal mould of the series after the previous film had felt so very different in style. The crafting allows for lots of small details but in a tightly focused situation and group of people – a combination I like since the latter allows me more time for the former. The mystery develops well, and, although the ending does ask a lot of the viewer, it is dramatic, emotional and genuinely quite surprising if you do not know how it ends. It is also an ending that works thanks to the legwork done in the previously film to bring out Poirot's religious beliefs, and his struggle with some ideas of justice – such base elements help sell this ending much better than it would have done otherwise – and of course, it also helps that it is moving and delicately handled, with the early death and flashback being a very good device.Although the film is not the brightest, the darker coloring and Autumn setting add to a rather tragic feeling that the film warrants. I particularly enjoyed the internal room design, it felt like it was all from an older time but had not aged well to keep its once majesty glory; this is best seen in Poirot's own room, with its tatty wallpaper, or the large rooms which are now sparse, or indeed even the owners – far from the gentry who lived there. This is a feeling that works very well in the context of the narrative. The use of music and the pacing of the delivery also adds to the emotional engagement, but it is the cast that impresses the most. Suchet is excellent as you expect – it is very odd to see him without his mustache at one point, but his character is strong nonetheless, it is a very strong ending to a career defining role. Almost as good is Fraser, who mostly was comic relief in the past, and was barely used in Big Four, but here gives a very emotional performance with lots of small touches and detail. The supporting cast are good with McArdle, Standing, Reid, Glenister, and others, but really the film belong to Suchet and Fraser.A moving, intriguing, and very well crafted final film – one which is even more appreciated given that it comes at the end of a variable season. My memory was that the final film was very good, and watching it this time with the experience of watching all of the preceding episodes, it plays even better than I remembered.

Franklie Where is the fun of the early Suchet Poirot? This episode was boring to look at and boring to listen to. The best thing about it, besides Hastings (yay!), is that they finally stayed fairly true to Agatha Christie's book. Otherwise, we didn't think much of it.Poirot was portrayed as being ornery and we had to listen to him wheeze, not pleasant. In her book, Christie uses words like "twinkling" and "affectionate" and "quiet" and only "faintly scornful" when describing Poirot, but he was so demeaning in the film that by the end, we didn't like him much at all.The cinematography was washed out, which in a film industry that creates such eye-catching TV as Inspector Lewis, Midsomer Murders, and Sherlock is a huge shame and a waste. It's possible to be bleak and picturesque at the same time.Usually we try not to be too critical, but Masterpiece knows how to create fabulous shows, so when they fall below the mark, we speak our mind in hopes that they'll always go for creating characters that we care about and put them in scenery that fascinates. There are many Masterpiece and BBC shows that we watch again and again. These later Poirots aren't in that group. Major bummer.

Ryan Yamada It's difficult, perhaps nearly impossible, to write an objective, clear- eyed review of Curtain at this point. Those of us who enjoyed Suchet's definitive portrayal are filled with a mix of emotions. So I won't even try to be objective.The setting was drab and dark, yes, but that, I think, was part of the point. A sumptuous, beautiful setting, like that seen in Five Little Pigs, would've seemed out of place. Styles is a decayed, dying home, a shadow of itself -- and so, it seems, is Poirot.Closer observers of UK television and movies might recognize members of the cast and comment on their ability to carry off their roles. I can only say that I thought all the actors did, at minimum, competent jobs. Hugh Fraser and Aidan McArdie deserve particular commendation for turning in wonderful performances. It nearly goes without saying that David Suchet proves, yet again, why he is the definitive Poirot.The expectations for this episode were tremendous. I'd say that the production did an excellent job satisfying Christie purists, an easier task given that she wrote this at the height of her powers. A wonderful way to close out a wonderful series, n'est pas?