Murder on the Orient Express

The marketing of this film was well done for those who follow actor/director Kenneth Branagh's career. "Murder on the Orient Express" contains an ensemble cast much like Branagh's Shakespeare adaptations "Much Ado About Nothing" and "Hamlet". Unfortunately, this is the fourth adaptation of Agatha Christie novel, the most famous being the first adaptation released in 1974 (nominated for six Oscars). That film also featured some famous names in the cast. The script could have made even more deviations for the sake of originality but chose not to. Whether this was done out of respect for the original source or for some other reason, it probably did not sit too well with those who are familiar with the 1974 film and wanted something new. I have not seen any of the previous versions so I was entertained by Branagh's film but I also was expecting a plot twist that was a tad more shocking. The cast and the director did their jobs pretty well so the script appears to be the main reason why the movie was good but not great.

The opening scene in Jerusalem was in many ways the most fun part of the whole show. It did pretty well in establishing the main character of Hercule Poirot. His intelligence, perfectionism and foresight are quite entertaining. This led me to believe that during his investigation on the train, he would appear unsure as to who was responsible only to reveal at the end that he knew all along "whodunit" and his search was only designed to trick the culprit into revealing him or herself. I was disappointed in my expectation but only slightly because the twist (albeit less shocking) was something I had not considered. I was also trying to anticipate which passenger would be murdered and the answer was more of a surprise to me than the twist at the climax. The guilty party never expected the world's greatest detective to be on board nor anticipated the train being stranded by an avalanche. Despite their improvisation due to these unanticipated circumstances and despite Poirot's mental struggle, he eventually comes to a complex conclusion. The plot of the entire movie is a little complex but not so much that the audience becomes completely lost. Maybe it was the intention of the screenwriter that the script be such so that those new to this story would have to see the show a second time to completely follow the back stories of all the passengers. Branagh, as director, employs some high angle shots on two occasions in the film and I thought that this was done to hide a clue (I had re-watched "Psycho" only a few weeks prior so that film came to my recollection in this moment). Once the more obvious clues begin to surface, all sorts of suspicions begin to form in our minds that are not part Poirot's notes such as the possibility that this crime may be a frame job, seeing as how so many "strangers" have a connection to the victim or have a motif. The gathering scene outside the train feels less melodramatic than other similar scenes in this genre. The detective gathering the murder suspects is pretty cliché but in this movie, the train must be evacuated for the passengers' safety in order for the engine to be put back on the tracks. In this way, the scene isn't portrayed as cliché as it could have been. In the final scene, there is a reference to "Death on the Nile" and I could hear other audience members react to this line.

Despite the flaws with the script, everyone else involved with "Murder on the Orient Express" did their jobs just fine. Branagh as Poirot was fun to watch and carried the movie just fine. Willem Dafoe was the perfect choice for his character and was my second favourite performer after Branagh in this film. Johnny Depp had chemistry with all the actors he had scenes with. Derek Jacobi was Claudius in Branagh's "Hamlet" and I recognized him as Masterman in this show. This is my first film of Daisy Ridley's outside of "Star Wars" and this is the first time I have seen Josh Gad in a completely dramatic role. Because of the size of the ensemble cast, I knew I was forgetting one celebrity as I watched the movie until I finally recognized Michelle Pfeiffer towards the end. As a final note, Branagh had recently performed in Christopher Nolan's "Dunkirk" and used some of the same 65mm film cameras that shot that movie to film this one.

I am going to assume that the book is probably better than any of its film adaptations because that is the norm. Also, considering this is a remake that did not deviate much from the original movie adaptation, those who saw the 1974 film probably were a little let down. I also was expecting "Murder on the Orient Express" to be a little more fun, even though I have not seen the first film. Besides those flaws with the story, the cast was good as was the look of the film. If this movie does become a success, Branagh may adapt other Christie novels featuring Poirot. All signs at this point are inconclusive.

3.5 Stars out of 5