Murder on the Orient Express

photo courtesy of foxmovies.com

SPOILER-FREE REVIEW

     When the trailer for 2017’s Murder on the Orient Express dropped earlier this year, it promised to give Agatha Christie’s source material a modern, stylish sheen, perhaps a more understated version of the way The Great Gatsby (2013) mixed F. Scott Fitzergald’s classic with stylistic elements from the 21^st century. The trailer featured music from Imagine Dragons, of all things, and was edited not unlike a typical horror film trailer. But don’t let Fox’s marketing department deceive you; that is not at all the kind of movie Murder on the Orient Express is.

     It’s not that Orient Express doesn’t display modern influences—it absolutely does—it’s that, at heart, it’s overwhelmingly old-fashioned. This is a movie that relishes melodrama and mystery, where every character has a seedy backstory or an ulterior motive, where passions run high, where crimes are implausible and their solutions absurd. It’s an era of honor, nobility, intrigue. It is, in other words, a whodunit.

photo courtesy of traileraddict.com

     For those who aren’t familiar with Agatha Christie’s famous novel, the story sees a group of posh strangers riding on the extravagant Orient Express in 1934. After the train is delayed by a particularly nasty winter storm, one of the passengers is found murdered. Stuck together in close quarters, the survivors look to fellow passenger and sensational detective Hercule Poirot (Kenneth Branagh, who also directs) to solve the case.

     Orient Express is a mostly satisfying (and, by the way, generally faithful) adaptation of Agatha Christie’s source material, but it probably won’t be the definitive retelling. I appreciate that the movie leans into its murder-mystery roots; a refreshing dose of high drama is enough to get me on board. The film also benefits from solid production value and an ensemble of legendary A-list actors (including Branagh, Tom Bateman, Penélope Cruz, Willem Dafoe, Judi Dench, Olivia Colman, Johnny Depp, Josh Gad, Derek Jacobi, Leslie Odom Jr, Michelle Pfeiffer, Daisy Ridley, Marwan Kenzari, Lucy Boynton, Sergei Polunin, and Manuel Garcia-Rulfo). When Johnny Depp plays one of the smaller roles in a movie, you know things are going to be interesting. Seriously, the sheer star-power in this movie is overwhelming, and it means that even incredible actors like Leslie Odom Jr. and Olivia Colman are wasted in bit parts. 

photo courtesy of hollywoodreporter.com

     But between the powerhouse performances, certain weaknesses make themselves known. Orient Express is a bit slow, despite Branagh’s attempts to jazz things up with action sequences from time to time. Those sequences, which aren’t strong enough to merit inclusion, just relay that the filmmakers aren’t totally confident in their movie’s central story. The strength of an Agatha Christie novel, it should go without saying, is in its complex mystery and intrigue, and that’s where the filmmakers should look to spice things up; they ought to have leaned into the melodrama even further and, perhaps as a by-product, ended up with a shorter runtime.

     The other odd choice is casting Branagh as the protagonist, Hercule Poirot. Branagh is an unquestionably talented actor, and his performance makes Poirot both likeable and funny (despite the character’s occasional arrogance). But put simply, Branagh looks silly in the role, and the movie’s obsession with his quirks alternatively distracts from more interesting parts of the movie or gets dropped altogether as the plot moves forward. Branagh’s contributions from the director’s chair (minus a few jarring angles) are a much more valuable asset to the film.

     FINAL VERDICT: Murder on the Orient Express overcomes its flaws with a timeless murder-mystery narrative and a veteran cast.

Watch the trailer here.

photo courtesy of ign.com