Murder on the Orient Express Review

09/12/2017
03/CR/English/PG-13

Murder on the Orient Express is a 2017 mystery drama film directed by Kenneth Branagh  based on the 1934 novel of the same name by Agatha Christie. The film had an ensemble cast of the director Branagh himself as Hercule Poirot, along with Johnny Depp, Penélope Cruz, Judi Dench, Willem Dafoe, Josh Gad, Derek Jacobi, Leslie Odom Jr., Michelle Pfeiffer, and Daisy Ridleyin acted as supporting roles. The film is the fourth adaptation of Christie's novel, following a 1974 film, a 2001 TV film, and an episode in a 2010 TV Series Agatha Christie's Poirot.

Click on the link below to watch the Official Trailer of this film:

Plot:

Hercules Poirot, whose world-renowned and one of the best detectives was going to London to solve a case in an Orient Express. On the way of his journey, one of the passengers gets killed. Poirot, thus started to investigate within the passenger and then follows the crux of the story.

Performance:

* Kenneth Branagh as Hercules Poirot did his best performance in this movie. His accent, looks, costumes, certain gestures,  got matched up according to the vision of Christie.

* Johnny Depp as Samuel Ratchett, also did a good performance. Although he had a brief appearance but had a significant role in this film. His versatility was visible in his character.

* Other casts like Judi Dench, Penelope Cruz, Willem Dafoe, Leslie Odom Jr. and rest of them did their performance apt for the film.

Technical Aspects:

* Directed by Kenneth Branagh does need a special mention for his decision to adapt this novel. He made the film into more intense and detailed one. Unlike regular thriller movies, there were only minimal characters and each character had a depth in their role.

* Screenplay by Michael Green was a kind of fantastic at beginning but towards the end of the film, the screenplay was struggling to maintain the pace and finally presented something at climax which wasn't digestible and logical at some extent. Hence, it is not possible to declare that this film was the best adaptation but an okayish one.

* DoP by Haris Zambarloukos was one of the asset of the movie. It actually driven the audience in novelty. There were some top-notch shots that made the movie different from other thriller films.

* Edited by Mick Audsley was good. The crisp edits made the film more faster and interesting. The transitions were also good, so it didn't create any lagging in the film.

* Music by Patrick Doyle who has done 'The Emoji Movie' and 'Thor' earlier does a fabulous job in music department. There weren't any montage songs to spoil the mood of the film, instead he handled the background score wisely throughout the film.

* Other departments did their best effort to make this film into a good thriller.


Final Verdict: Murder on the Orient Express is an above average flick and a variety treatment in Thriller Genre. Watch it.

#avmoviebuff rating - 3/5