MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS (2017) MOVIE NEWS & REVIEW

murder on the orient express (2017) movie

Genre               |   Mystery Thriller

Classification   |  M

Running time   |   114 minutes

Released         |   9 November 2017

cast

Kenneth Branagh as Poirot
Johnny Depp as Ratchett
Michelle Pfeiffer as Mrs. Hubbard
Daisy Ridley as Mary Debenham

director

Kenneth Branagh

writer

​Michael Green (screenplay by), Agatha Christie (based upon the novel by)

cinematographer

​Haris Zambarloukos

music

​Patrick Doyle

film editor

​Mick Audsley

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box office result

Worldwide             $349,997,112  

Australia                 $​12,935,084

North America       $102,756,107

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the best dialogue

Hercule Poirot: My name is Hercule Poirot and I am probably the greatest detective in the world.

Gerhard Hardman: [Speaking about black and white people] It is out of respect for both that I like to keep them separated. To mix your red wine and your white would be to ruin them both.
Miss Mary Debenham: [Pouring her red wine into her white] I like a good rosé.

Hercule Poirot: I detect criminals. I do not protect them.

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MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS (2017) IMAGES

MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS (2017) STORY SYNOPSIS

​What starts out as a lavish train ride through Europe quickly unfolds into one of
the most stylish, suspenseful and thrilling mysteries ever told. From the novel by
best-selling author Agatha Christie, "Murder on the Orient Express" tells the tale
of thirteen strangers stranded on a train, where everyone's a suspect. One man
must race against time to solve the puzzle before the murderer strikes again.
Kenneth Branagh directs and leads an all-star cast including Penelope Cruz,
Willem Dafoe, Judi Dench, Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Daisy Ridley and
Josh Gad.

MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS (2017) MOVIE REVIEW

Reviewed by Mark Geraghty   |   Reviewed 9 November 2017
​Pop Movee Rating ⭐⭐⭐ ½

Kenneth Branagh’s adaptation of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express is solid entertainment, catering to a segment of the movie-going public whose preference for “Thrillers” outweigh their need for a thrill-a-minute. The film’s large and talented cast is put to relatively good use with each character featuring in a vignette sequence that helps the story to build to its revelatory finale where Branagh’s Hercule Poirot deducts who the killer is. For the assertion of clarity, this is Branagh’s movie in every sense. From playing the leading role to being the man in charge behind the scenes, Branagh has taken Christie’s 1934 novel and given her most famous creation, the redoubtable Belgian Detective, a mild reboot that makes the character more accessible for the mainstream and more emotionally intelligent than previous incarnations, either in the original novels or on the screen.

Produced by Ridley Scott’s production company, the screenplay adaptation was put together by Michael Green, whose 2017 credits already include Logan, Alien:Covenant and Blade Runner: 2049. While the commercial success of these three movies has been varying, there’s no question that Green is a very capable writer, as each of those movies tap into the mythos of their respective histories, possess strong characters and have a sense of poignancy that is beyond what audiences have come to expect of high-profile, big budget feature films. With Murder on the Orient Express, Green opts to follow Christie’s plot, but accommodates Branagh’s version of Poirot as a more humane man, whose gift for deduction has become so much a burden that he longs for an opportunity to regress from the world around him and focus on one delight at a time; including the Belgian’s passion for food perfection in the form of perfectly symmetrical boiled eggs and Middle Eastern baked goods!

Little time is wasted getting the passengers aboard the Orient Express, and what a lineup it is. Johnny Depp is Edward Ratchett, a businessman whose double-cross of the Mafia makes him a nervous and dangerous traveller. Josh Gad is Hector MacQueen, Ratchett’s business manager, Poirot’s prime suspect early in his investigation. Derek Jacobi plays Masterman, Ratchett’s personal valet... It always seems like Michelle Pfeiffer has been absent from feature films for extended periods, despite the fact her resume suggests otherwise, and it’s great to see her back in a wide release film, this time playing Mrs. Hubbard, an American widower on the hunt for a new husband. Daisy Ridley plays the pivotal role of Mary Debenham, the only passenger not to be overawed by Poirot’s quest for the truth. Judi Dench, Willem Dafoe, Olivia Colman and Leslie Odom Jr. round out the main players, each a suspect at various points throughout the story. Branagh provides each of his main cast with their own story moment, principally through the use of Poirot’s interview of each of the passengers. The scenes where the Detective searches for clues, leading to the truth, also provides an opportunity for a large amount of exposition to be dealt with quickly. The victim’s story, the passenger’s motives and Poirot’s deductive process are rolled up into a series of interrogations allowing the “World’s Greatest Detective” to move the plot forward to the moment the audience has been anticipating; the killer’s reveal!

Much like the train itself, Murder on the Orient Express doesn’t travel at breakneck speed. It relies very much upon Branagh’s performance to keep it centred and never strays far enough beyond the source material to get into an area where Christie purists howl down the house. Branagh is easy to watch, as are the majority of his co-stars. Johnny Depp is the only real misfire. His acting skills seem to have deserted him and he relies almost entirely upon his ability to mimic trope Gangster speak to make Ratchett halfway believable. On the upside, Daisy Ridley proves herself to be more-than-capable acting against Branagh and the inclusions of Derek Jacobi and Judi Dench provide the gravitas that lend dramatic credibility to proceedings. Christie fans won’t find too much to be concerned about, but the bigger question is whether Branagh’s version of the story will find a large enough audience to warrant a follow-up appearance of Poirot and his equally-famous moustache!

The film is distributed by 20th Century Fox Pictures.
https://www.foxmovies.com/

MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS MOVIE (2017) USEFUL LINKS

​Murder on the Orient Express (2017) - IMDb
​Murder on the Orient Express (2017 film) - Wikipedia
​Murder On The Orient Express (2017) - Rotten Tomatoes
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