Review of Murder on the Orient Express (2017) by Michael M — 01 Jun 2018

For the most part what Kenneth Branagh does with this movie is damn good. His performance is something that has become a bit of a cliché now (the insufferable genius) but to be honest it's a cliché I like and he plays it incredibly well.

It's also directed beautifully. It indulges in modern technical advantages a bit more than I would have liked for such a traditional story, but I can't deny the movie looks damn gorgeous. My problems with the movie seem to stem more from the source material.

Other than the inspector, I really didn't know much or care much about any of the other people on the train. I knew their main character gimmick that helps you solve the mystery, but that's it, there wasn't much about them to make them feel like genuine people to me.

I also hated the ending. I solved the mystery quickly, but then shut aside the though thinking it had to be something better since the solution I'd come to was such a cheap gimmick. Turns out, I was right.

It's a mystery solution I've seen done before, and I hate it. It's hard to say more without getting into spoilers, but it just feels like cheating. Still I enjoyed the journey well enough for Branagh's performance and the general look of the film, which dramatically elevate what would otherwise be a mediocre mystery.