Featuring an incredible cast, and an intriguing source material, can the latest adaption of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express thrill audiences, or will it run out of stream?
This is in fact the 4th adaptation of the classic novel across various forms of media, though this is by far the most extravagant vision of the story yet. Kenneth Branagh , who also directs this film. Takes up the role of Hercule Poirot, the world famous detective, who happens to be at the wrong place at the wrong time, and stumbles into another case, while he takes the lavish Orient Express back to London. With a carriage full of suspects, it’s down to Poirot to find the culprit, before the police take matters into their own hands.
The strongest part of the movie is by far the stellar list of actors that are involved with this project. An ensemble cast featuring the talents of Johnny Depp, Penélope Cruz, Willem Dafoe, Judi Dench, Daisy Ridley & Michelle Pfeiffer to name a few. Each of them playing their characters as well as you would expect. Poirot is of course the star here, and while Branagh does a pleasant job with our master detective, he does have a few comedic moments, which feel a bit forced at times, bumbling, a trait he really didn’t need for this.
Alongside the cast, the period setting works excellently. From the hustle & bustle of the streets of Istanbul, to the divine elegance of the Orient Express, it all looks sublime. The film is also filled with several well shot scenes, such as the tracking shot as Poirot strolls through to his carriage, or the interrogation scenes, which are shot through the cuts of window glass, a very polished movie. It is a tad heavy on the CGI, but it still looks pleasing to watch, especially the scenic Alpine sections of the trip.
The cast & setting aside, Murder on the Orient Express does have its share of issues. The pacing of the movie feels very uneven. While the first half of the film moves along at a serene pace, its well into the movie before the murder occurs. After a bit of investigation, the case is suddenly all wrapped up. It does feel like the ending was rushed, a longer more drawn our investigation would have been far more satisfying to watch. The murder should have taken place in the first half hour or so, then spend rest of the time analyzing and building up the suspects for a bigger reveal.
The mystery to it all is also fairly straight forward, it’s not before long you can figure out yourself what’s going on, and put the pieces together. For a master detective, you would have hoped the conundrum would have been a bit more cerebral, to display why Poirot is so highly regarded. The film is a like for like copy of the novel, and you can see where it has hurt this movie, a few changes could have been made to make the original source far more captivating for the current audiences
Murder on the Orient Express is a perfectly fine film to watch during these cold chilly winter months, it’s not the most enthralling mystery and the pacing is slightly off. But with its distinguished cast & colorful
environment, it’s most certainly worth a watch.
Silver Screen Show 
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