Review of Murder on the Orient Express (2017) by Julian M — 15 Nov 2017

A rather by the books whodunit, "Murder on the Orient Express" squanders its potential of being as successful as the 1974 version (which was nominated for six academy awards), by spending more time creating Poirot's elegant mustache than finding ways to effectively engage the audience.

The cast of "Murder on the Orient Express" is star-studded, and so because of that, we get good sometimes great acting all around throughout the movie. Each actor/actress gets at least one maybe two scenes to shine in the entire film and when given that opportunity, they perform as expected, very well. The special thing about having several renowned names is that because of their talent, we get to watch a variety of distinct and interesting characters be created; smaller characters, which if were played by a lesser known commodity would be forgotten by a script, are now played by bigger names and have their own backstories and personalities. Out of the supporting cast, Michelle Pfeifer (who also sings the credits song) stood out the most, driving home the story's climax and being able to immediately establish an emotional core with the audience; from the beginning when I met her character, I became instantly curious about her intentions and by the end of it all, her final cries resonate with the viewers. Daisy Ridley and Leslie Odom worked relatively well together and Josh Gad is able to effectively garner sympathy and alter his character's perception in one brief interrogation. Unfortunately, seasoned talents like Penelope Cruz, Judi Dench, Willem Dafoe were underused, never truly receiving a chance to add to the story. Johnny Depp is superb in a limited role.

One of the biggest make or break features of the film was Kenneth Branagh's performance as Hercule Poirot, "probably the greatest detective in the world"; after having finished watching the film, I can comfortably say that Branagh's performance adds a nice touch to the film and that he was able to capably carry it. Branagh mixes light humor with Sherlock Holmesian intuition and a tad of OCD to create an intriguing protagonist who is not a perfect human being but is damn good at their job.

Something I found interesting in the film was the interior set design of the train; it finds a way to be both fancy and warm yet claustrophobic and unfamiliar. I particularly liked how they designed the hallway which had all the riders' rooms down it to be narrow and one way, this helped create the claustrophobic effect and made it so every time someone came out of their room they went down the same path everyone else did. When the camera was not focused on the inside of the train, the power of the 65mm Panavision Branagh and fellow cinematographer Haris Zambarloukos used was out on full display, as we get to see multiple beautiful scenic shots of white mountains; the film quality, in general, is very high. Beyond scenic shots of mountains however, there are other different shots featured in the film that were definitely interesting and sometimes awkward to see. There is one top-down shot that allows us to see inside a room and the hallway at the same time which caught my eye, and another where the camera focuses on a piece of glass in the center which creates a mirror effect of Josh Gad's character.

While the movie was fairly successful in revealing who did it and creating its climax, because of its abundance of suspects we never get to know any of them intimately; this lack of intimacy leads the movie to lose any emotional power it wants to have over the audience because quite frankly, when characters revealed their sob stories I didn't care. I was told that what had happened to them was sad and that I should hate this one guy, but I didn't because I couldn't establish a connection with the character. The only person in the movie I was able to identify with was Poirot, but he never has a touchy feel-sad moment so what does it matter beyond the fact that he is the one on the screen most of the time and it is important because of that that I at least tolerate if not enjoy his presence. The movie also lacked in suspense and dragged a little in the middle. While I was wondering who the killer was throughout the film, I was never desperate to know and never had reason to; the film failed to scare me into thinking that the killer might return and kill someone else soon. One of the unfortunate things that come with these type of storylines is that once you do know who did it, you lose the curious feeling when viewing the film for a second or third time. The biggest and almost only appeal of "Murder on the Orient Express" is that wonder of who is the killer, who is guilty? Once you've seen who it was, because there isn't much else of a reason to return, "Murder on the Orient Express" falls into the one and done category of films, watch it once and never again.

While I did find the film amusing, a large part of that was just from me wanting to know who the killer was, beyond that there wasn't anything spectacular that struck me. I would recommend this film to those who do not know how the story ends and to those that do because while not memorable, the film is a fresh retelling of a classic murder mystery.