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Join UsStar Cast: Kenneth Branagh, Penélope Cruz, Willem Dafoe, Judi Dench, Paapa Essiedu, Johnny Depp.
Director: Kenneth Branagh.
What’s Good: The way Kenneth unveils the mystery towards the end makes you realise you were lost in thinking something else, Perfectly donning the director’s hat and delivering English dialogue with a crispy French touch to it.
What’s Bad: Pace always acts as a patience tester in whodunits, if you can oversee through it nothing should be the problem.
Loo Break: Don’t even think about it! There are clues, twist and turns in every frame of the film.
Watch or Not?: Craving for a gritty mystery film? Go for this one to satisfy yourself. Stay away if you easily get bored.
User Rating:
Agatha Christie the mother of crime novels wrote a novel with the same name in 1934 which was adapted as a film with the same name forty years later. Here we stand another forty-three years later with another version of the same story in a completely new film but the name remains the same – Murder On The Orient Express!
It has a murder, a murderer and a detective. Sporting a trendy moustache this time, Belgian Detective Hercule Poirot played by the director himself – Kenneth Branagh (Whose name is always misspelt by many as Hercules) aching for a holiday reunites with an old friend to travel on his train – The Orient Express.
Making its way through the heavy and white snowy mountains, Orient Express moves towards its destination. A detective on a train with a bunch of people – a murder was definitely called for. Poirot comes from the place where Sherlock must’ve taken his schooling from. Guessing where are you from by just observing the way you dress is his forte. He’s goofy, he laughs bizarrely when he has too, he forgets English words says ‘Chocolate’ when he has to indicate that a certain someone has ‘fudge’d the situation – bottom line is he is the more idiosyncratic version of Poirot.
On investigating each of his co-passenger he finally reaches to the conclusion of who’s the killer (Or not?) Watch the film to see how this guy has executed mystery attaining a proper conclusion.
Murder on the Orient Express Movie Review: Script Analysis
Movies which get adapted from books backpack the burden of getting set side by side of the original one. This requires a writing which has something new to distinguish the later one. Michael Green has written the film giving Kenneth full room to portray a new version of an age-old story. The special thing about this story is how the murder is connected with every passenger on the train and how everyone is a suspect.
Without creating chaos and confusion, Green sticks the writing to the basics which is what works big time for the film. When you’ve such a prestigious predecessor to follow, you tend to do things which are not understood by many. Green never loses his way and his helped by Haris Zambarloukos’s astounding cinematography covering each minute detail of every scene. “When you lie there are two people who knows it, the first one is god and the second is Detective Hercule Poirot.”
Murder on the Orient Express Movie Review: Star Performance
Kenneth Branagh ticks in every checkbox of being a quirky detective. You just cannot avoid noticing his trendy moustache whenever he’s on screen. His character has given an emotional backdrop which acts as a subtext in many scenes.
Murder On The Orient Express has numerous other characters & suspects. Mostly everyone has done their part very well apart from few glitches here and there. Judi Dench as Princess Dragomiroff is a delightful takeaway apart from the story and screenplay.
Murder on the Orient Express Movie Review: Direction, Music
Kenneth Branagh serves Agatha’s vision with a neoteric touch not disappointing her fans. Most of the portions shot in the train, Kenneth saves the best for the lost. An outstanding pre-climax and climax sequences make sure you leave the cinema hall thinking about the film. Trying to confuse with every piece of evidence coming out, Kenneth plays a masterstroke in keeping the audience hooked running their heads.
Kenneth’s favorite Patrick Doyle has composed the haunting score for the film. It weaves well with the given situations making one excited about the scene – even if the pace is slow. Piano riffs popping out in the middle of a sequence makes you listen as well as watch the scene.
Murder on the Orient Express Movie Review: The Last Word
Murder On The Orient Express is one memorable attempt of presenting Agatha Christie’s vision to the millennials who probably are unaware of her classic mystery novels. Watch it for a good workout of your brain and some very good performances.
Three and a half stars!
Murder on the Orient Express Trailer
Murder on the Orient Express releases on 24th November 2017.
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