Review of Murder on the Orient Express (2017) by Omar L — 15 Nov 2017

It's too easy to say that "the book is better," because the challenges of transferring a story from page to screen will always be rife with challenges. The story of Murder on the Orient Express is a classic, and while Branagh does a satisfactory job of both directing and acting as Poirot, it's just that: satisfactory.

But the real problem lies not with the acting or the directing, but with the pacing. and unnecessary action. The entire prologue to this movie could have been cut, allowing more time to be spent on the suspects.

The backstory of Poirot could also have been trimmed, as Poirot, like Mad Max, is just a catalyst in the stories that he's in. The excitement of having an ensemble cast is to see how each actor can make a character shine, and it's a shame that no one chooses to do that.

There have been many adaptations of this famous story; this is not one of the better ones.