Review of Murder on the Orient Express (2017) by Kai82 — 02 May 2020

An impressively good movie and faithful adaptation of the legendary Agatha Christie novel. For those of you that did not know. Agatha Christie is the undisputed Queen of murder mystery and detective stories.

The number of her sold books is in the hundreds of million maybe past a billion and many of her innovative ideas are still used today. Murder on the Orient Express is one of her most famous story staring Hercule Poirot.

The story is inspired by the Lindbergh kidnapping and plays in the Orient Express which was know as King of Train(travels). I cant spoil the twist or story because the reveal is brilliant as Hercule Poirot is faced with an unsolvable looking problem.

Also it teaches him about the meaning of true justice and shows what he is made of. Like I said Agatha Christie was just brilliant with her ideas. Then there are the actors and their performance. Long time I thought no one came close to the legendary performances of David Suchet and Sir Peter Ustinov.

Then Kenneth Branagh proved that he plays in the same league. His performance is excellent as he delivers everything including the whims. Small spoiler: The egg scene is correctly representing Hercule Poirot.

End of small spoilers. Then we have something like an all-star cast for the other roles with Willem Dafoe, Judi Dench, Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz, Michelle Pfeiffer, Daisy Ridley and all others. All roles are set with good actors that fully deliver.

For me it is one of the best performences in this year. I must also praise the visuals, sets and soundtrack that add to the atmosphere. Maybe purist will remark that the movie makes some variations and additions to the book but they always capture the spirit and it never fells fake.

Overall a worthy adaptation and a well made movie. Bonus knowledge: Do you know that the movies Mindhunters, Devil, Princess Bride and many more used also her ideas? Knives Out is also a homage to Agatha Christie.