Too bad. What should have been an intriguing and shocking Christie mystery ended up as a run-of-the-mill, made-for-TV mess --- the worst thing that a Poirot episode can be. The only shocking things about it are how the book was rewritten so much, and how the action unfolded in such a cheesy manner. I understand that some variations may help when trying to translate a novel to the screen, but, really, when three main suspects have been omitted, another perpetually ignored throughout the production, and another killed off during the movie (and NOT during the book!!), something is seriously wrong. Not to mention all of the swearing and gratuitous violence absent from the book and unbecoming of a Poirot film with David Suchet. Did we really need to see Roger Ackroyd gurgling and shaking his jowls for three minutes after getting stabbed in the neck? And what was going on with that climax? Was the director trying to recreate the chemical plant scenes from "Batman"? And there were many more butchered parts, too.
The first step towards making the film more interesting would have been putting the Dr. Sheppard character into more of a "Captain Hastings" role, a sidekick for Poirot, as he was in Christie's book. This would increase his relevance to the story and make the ending more effective. Of course, the whole production would have to be redone from the ground up to make it good. Sadly, Suchet probably won't be involved with such a remake since he has already been used for this misfire. At least he and Phillip Jackson picked up paychecks for their trouble.
Such a disappointment, especially compared to the recent A&E version of "Lord Edgeware Dies", which was nicely done, and also featured Suchet and company.