Credits →MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS is a remake of Agatha Christie’s classic 1934 mystery novel. Consulting detective Hercule Poirot, mourning his wife’s death, decides to take a vacation. A friend offers him the chance to head to travel from Istanbul to Europe on the luxury Orient Express train. Poirot notices the odd behavior of a dozen fellow passengers. They include an actress suffering the pains of fading glory, a doctor with an attitude and a nervous uptight missionary. Poirot’s forced to deal with the passengers as a detective when another passenger with a shady past is found stabbed to death. It would seem wise to leave a classic movie and novel untouched. However, Director Kenneth Branagh who also plays Poirot has delivered an astounding, captivating movie. He combines vivid performances by an all-star cast with stunning imagery, a magnificent score and a fine screenplay that attains an emotional, moral resonance far too often lacking in major studio fare. MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS is a thoroughly entertaining movie, but it's marred by some foul language and a weak, antinomian ending where relativism trumps justice and CC, Ro, FR, LL, VV, S, A, DD, M Strong moral worldview involving a murder mystery and pondering what is true justice, with some overt Christian, biblical elements and allusions including talk of sin, there’s a priest character in the movie’s opening sequence, and one character has become a Christian missionary, plus forgiveness plays a key part in the climax, allusions to being judged by a jury of one’s peers, plus some Romantic elements and some false theology at the end, including an antinomian ending that undermines the morality taught earlier in the movie and there's a Muslim imam character in the opening sequence; eight obscenities "d" and "h" words, two strong GD profanities and two light exclamatory profanities, plus some coy but not graphic innuendoes and sneers by one playboy character, showing a cavalier playboy attitude toward relationships; some brief strong and light violence includes a couple of gunshots that only graze their victims rather than really hurting them, a couple fistfights that also involve attempts between the antagonists to hit each other with blunt objects, flashbacks to the kidnapping murder of a child, a flashback reveals how the murder occurred implying a series of stab wounds that are not shown as they happen, a corpse is shown very bloody with a chest cavity opened from afar and above, a woman pulls a gun on herself, but it has no bullet when she pulls the trigger, references to the murder of a 3-year-old girl that greatly affected her family and those around her, and the murder of a villainous victim is shown as still having a devastating effect on the people involved; no depicted sex, but man is with what is revealed to be a prostitute while making wisecracks implying they’re fornicating; no nudity; social drinking of alcohol shown throughout this movie set in the 1930s; some occasional cigarette smoking and a character seems addicted to barbiturates because of past trauma; and, lots of deception and duplicity among many characters to hide the truth about a murder from a private detective and the ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS is a remake of the Oscar-winning 1974 hit movie starring Albert Finney, Ingrid Bergman and Sean Connery and brings the classic mystery novel by Agatha Christie to even more vibrant life. It would seem wise to leave that classic untouched, but Director Kenneth Branagh has stepped up to deliver a movie that pairs vivid performances by an all-star cast with stunning imagery and a magnificent score with a screenplay by Michael Green “Logan” that attains an emotional resonance far too often lacking in major studio fare. Best of all, this MURDER has been shot with the option of being displayed in the full, now-rare glory of the 70mm format. The result is a dazzling work of art that is alternately fun to watch and hard to shake, the very definition of must-see filmmaking and worth every penny viewers pay at today’s excessive prices. Branagh holds the screen magnetically with his lead performance as Inspector Hercule Poirot, a man whose ace deductive skills have made him famous across Europe. After an amusing opening sequence set in Jerusalem where he reveals that it’s a corrupt police officer who committed a heinous crime rather than the priest, rabbi and imam who are about to be executed publicly, Poirot declares his need for a vacation. While the inspector sports an impressive handlebar mustache and a showman’s panache, he’s secretly saddened by the loss of his wife. A friend takes pity on his loneliness and offers him the chance to hop a luxury passenger train called the Orient Express for some rest and relaxation from Istanbul to Paris. Poirot quickly notices a string of odd behavior and quirks from a dozen of his fellow passengers, including an actress who’s suffering the pains of fading glory Michelle Pfeiffer, a doctor with an attitude Leslie Odom Jr. and an uptight missionary Penelope Cruz. He’s forced to deal with them head-on when the train is trapped by an avalanche while traveling through the mountains, and especially when Ratchett, a boorish passenger with a shady background, played by Johnny Depp, is found stabbed to death in his cabin. As Poirot tries to unravel the mystery of who killed Ratchett, he discovers no one is exactly as they seem, including the victim himself. Trying to deduce the twisting motivations across so many fellow passengers leads to a delicious array of twists that pay off with a walloping surprise. The flaw in the otherwise well made movie is that it does not fulfill its premise. The premise is to find the truth and bring justice, but at the end relativism trumps truth and justice. Therefore, the end of the movie is unsatisfying. Certainly, some viewers may have seen the original movie or read Agatha Christie’s popular, brilliant 1934 mystery novel, but Branagh and Green manage to give this ORIENT EXPRESS an impressively profound moral sense. As the discovery of how the murder occurred is revealed, the lush score by Patrick Doyle “Hamlet,” “Sense and Sensibility” attains a tragic undertone that helps attain the rare feat of portraying even a righteously vengeful murder in a way that makes viewers feel every anguished moment in taking of a human life, no matter how evil the victim was or how just his premature death is. Haris Zambarloukos, who also brought Branagh’s MOVIEGUIDE Award winning, wonderful live-action movie version of CINDERELLA to vibrant life, creates scenescapes here that look like Thomas Kincaid paintings come to life. Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer. What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support. You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you. Movieguide is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible. A New Way To Experience Family Night A family devotional that combines your favorite movies with Gospel truths! An exciting and fun way to grow spiritually and together as a family Download for FREE right now and transform your family movie nights Enter your email to download your free devotion for families! "*" indicates required fields Share

The word “sheer” is missing from the beginning of the title. Like a dusty and long-locked display room in Madame Tussauds, this movie showcases an all-star cast in period costume, each of whom must suppress his or her star quality in the cause of being part of an all-star cast. It is a new version of Agatha Christie’s 1934 detective mystery, one of her most ingenious, all about a grisly killing on board a train that is marooned in snow. The story arguably has something to say about the nature of guilt and the nature of authorship. Kenneth Branagh directs and plays the legendary Belgian sleuth Hercule Poirot with an unfeasibly large ’tache, accessorised with a demi-goatee beneath the lower lip and a pepper-and-salt colouring overall, like the hair of former ITV World of Sport presenter Dickie Davies. Poirot says things like “The keelaire eez meurking me!”The film’s old-fashioned luxury stylings pay homage to Sidney Lumet’s own A-lister-crammed version from 1974 – which had Albert Finney as a more dyspeptic and glowering Poirot – and the film seems to be testing the waters for a lucrative new Bond-style franchise, the next caper being Death on the Nile. This Murder on the Orient Express gives the story a slightly more modern perspective; some of the races are changed and the era’s attitudes challenged, although there is a smug gag about a cheery prostitute at the beginning that could come straight from the seedy-sophisticate 70s. Two characters oddly allude to an earnest argument they have supposedly had about “Stalinism” in which it is far from obvious who is for and who … Judi Dench, right, as a Russian princess and Olivia Colman as her maid. Photograph Allstar/20th Century FoxThis version also tries to open things out a little by creating some derring-do out there in the freezing snow, before people nip smartly back into the warm carriage. There’s some outrageous product placement for a certain brand of chocolate, prominently displayed, over which Poirot lingers to say “Ah leurve these leeteurl cecks!” However much they contributed to the production budget, it wasn’t enough.Poirot boards the renowned Orient Express in Istanbul, heading for Calais, and finds he is sharing it with a remarkable cross-section of American and European society – though, with only a dozen or so passengers, the real mystery is how the Orient Express stays solvent. There is the haughty and cantankerous White Russian Princess Dragomiroff Judi Dench and her submissive maid Hildegarde Schmidt Olivia Colman; demure governess Mary Debenham Daisy Ridley, who may have some connection with Dr Arbuthnot Leslie Odom Jr; sinister German academic Gerhard Hardman Willem Dafoe; a mousily religious Pilar Estravados Penélope Cruz; manhunting American widow Mrs Hubbard Michelle Pfeiffer; saturnine Russian dancer Count Andrenyi played by real-life ballet star Sergei Polunin and his troubled wife, Countess Andrenyi Lucy Boynton; and genial businessman Marquez Manuel Garcia-Rulfo. There is also a crooked American art dealer, Ratchett Johnny Depp, accompanied by his butler, Masterman Derek Jacobi, and private secretary, Hector MacQueen Josh Gad. One of these people is found murdered – subject to a frenzied a mouthwatering cast it looks. And yet, of all these characters, only one is given anything like the necessary space to live and breathe, and that is the malign, gravel-voiced Ratchett. He has an interestingly charged scene with Mrs Hubbard and a similarly fraught encounter with Poirot, in which he has the unthinkable bad taste to offer the great detective a … Johnny Depp as Ratchett, the crooked art dealer. Photograph Alamy Stock PhotoTellingly, these moments happen before the murder, the discovery of which is filmed in the most bafflingly indirect way. Branagh contrives a showy overhead shot of the tops of people’s heads as they break into the victim’s compartment and the shock factor of unveiling the bloody corpse is lost, with nothing much gained in terms of subtlety or indirect the murder is announced, the narrative clockwork is assumed to have been set in motion. And yet it is more like the victim’s pocket watch, which was smashed in the violence and ceased to work, thus giving Poirot a vital clue as to the time of death. Something about the story itself goes dead at that moment, reviving only with the big reveal at the end, for which Poirot assembles the suspects outside, all seated at some sort of last-supper trestle table. Carrying that thing around on the train must have been a pain, but at last it came in handy. This film never gets up a head of steam. This article was amended on 3 November to correct the title of Agatha Christie’s book Death on the Nile, which had been mistakenly referred to as Murder on the Nile

Attendeesat the London film premiere of Murder on the Orient Express in 1974 witnessed one of Agatha Christie’s last public outings. The queen of crime, then 83, arrived in a wheel-chair but

I know. I KNOW. Ever since seeing the trailer for the mystery thriller “Murder on the Orient Express,” a question has been nagging at you. It’s not who among a diverse array of actors including Judi Dench as a Russian princess, Willem Dafoe as a German professor, Penelope Cruz as a depressed missionary and Johnny Depp as a thuggish art dealer, is the killer. But why has a small furry mammal disguised as a magnificent beast of a handlebar mustache in 50 shades of silvery gray taken up residence under Kenneth Branagh’s nose? The hair apparent seems specifically designed to practically steal every scene it appears in during this sumptuous yet ultimately stuffy and overstuffed big-screen return visit to Agatha Christie’s most durable novel. It's even responsible for the film’s best sight gag. If Branagh, the star and director behind the 21st-century digitally-enhanced stab at bringing this ensemble vehicle back to life wanted to make a statement to distinguish this take on his world-famous Belgian detective Hercule Poirot from any other, he certainly has. In the 1974 movie adaptation helmed by Sidney Lumet, Albert Finney sported a pert black swatch with Dali-esque twirls at the ends. Boring, right? Branagh’s fuzzy wuzzy is like an ocean wave of whiskers, from ear to shining ear. Best supporting player? That honor goes to that dashing splash of a soul patch on his chin. OK, I am stalling. Let’s accentuate the positive first. The script by Michael Green “Blade Runner 2049” does a bang-up job of introducing us to Poirot, a fuss-budget stickler who demands perfectly cooked four-minute eggs and tsk-tsks their imperfect dimensions—and then doesn’t even bother to eat them. He is a control freak who insists on balance in everything, from how a tie sits around a man’s neck to impeccably baked bread. The place is Jerusalem actually, Malta as a stand-in and the year is 1934. Poirot is at the Wailing Wall about to deliver the solution to a crime tied to three clerics of different faiths and a stolen artifact. With the showbiz panache of a Vegas magician, he reveals the perpetrator with an unexpected flourish involving a cane. That sends the message, “Hey, this could be fun.” But matters get perfunctory rather quickly when fellow passengers whose baggage clearly includes secrets begin to pop up, including Daisy Ridley Rey in “Star Wars The Force Awakens” as a porcelain-skinned governess and Leslie Odom Jr. Aaron Burr in Broadway’s “Hamilton” as a doctor who attempt to disguise they are an interracial couple. Those marquee credits are bound to draw in the under-30 demographic. But, alas, the only fully fleshed-out being turns out to be Poirot, who moons over a portrait of a lost love and undergoes an existential crisis of sorts when he finds himself unexpectedly confounded when a dead body turns up on the train with an even dozen stab wounds. The luxury locomotive traveling from Istanbul to Calais also comes to a halt about a half-hour in when an avalanche causes it to stop in its tracks atop a dangerous trestle. I wish I could say that the storyline at least picks up steam, but it never quite does especially since it devolves into a series of private interrogations by the imperious Poirot in a café car. Michelle Pfeiffer does what she can as a man-hungry rich widow searching for her next husband. Derek Jacobi and Josh Gad conspire as a valet and assistant to Depp’s scar-faced hoodlum. Other performers barely have the presence or enough dialogue to make much of an impression including the incredibly talented Olivia Colman as Dench’s lady in waiting. In addition, there are veiled allusions to the 1932 kidnapping of aviator Charles Lindbergh’s baby son, which few besides history buffs will recognize today. Branagh, the actor, comes through unscathed. Branagh, the director, not so much. He did wonders with making Shakespeare relevant for young audiences with his “Henry V” and found a way to make Disney’s live-action “Cinderella” seem fresh and new. But despite camera trickery with ineffective overhead shots and a long one-take scene as Poirot boards the moving train, there is too little levity and cleverness afoot, especially with a cast whose talent is barely tapped. The key isn’t whodunit but how you do it. However, that mustache—which even grows limp and messy when matters get dicey for Poirot—deserves a place in the pantheon of great follicle-ly enhanced performances. Perhaps it could sit alongside George Clooney’s waxed-to-perfection facial accoutrement in “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” As for “Murder on the Orient Express,” it squeaks by as passable entertainment by just a hair. Susan Wloszczyna Susan Wloszczyna spent much of her nearly thirty years at USA TODAY as a senior entertainment reporter. Now unchained from the grind of daily journalism, she is ready to view the world of movies with fresh eyes. Now playing Film Credits Murder on the Orient Express 2017 114 minutes Latest blog posts about 1 hour ago about 4 hours ago about 5 hours ago 1 day ago Comments

MovieReview: Murder on the Orient Express Kenneth Branagh and Daisy Ridley in a very talky take on an Agatha Christie detective classic. Kurt Loder | 11.10.2017 12:01 AM

On a certain level, you can’t help but wonder how yet another production of Murder On The Orient Express even exists in 2017. It’s not as if audiences have been begging for more Agatha Christie content in recent years or that there’s suddenly been a massive revival in drawing room mysteries to explain why a studio would want to make a blockbuster version of Christie potboiler. It likely exists as a big expensive Kenneth Branagh ego trip, surrounded by a bunch of famous friends as cover. This thing shouldn’t have made it through the studio system at all, especially as a grand and expensive studio release. Johnny Depp in Murder on the Orient Express 2017 – image via 21st Century Fox Yet on another level, it kind of makes sense. After all, many moons ago the paperback murder mysteries that Christie specialized in had a similar level of cultural cache and success as comic books. Plus, this famous property is also technically part of a larger franchise linked by Christie’s super detective Hercule Poirot. Fox likely looked at the star-packed project and saw the potential for a blockbuster franchise with just enough period prestige to qualify as awards bait and bring in a bundle from older audiences. Sure, there’s a certain desperation involved to stretch Agatha Christie into a potential repeatable Hollywood franchise. But hey! Maybe it could work. Well, sadly, that seems unlikely when you actually shove Branagh’s big safe gamble into your eyeholes. That’s not to say that Murder on the Orient Express is a particularly bad movie—because it’s not. It’s fine. It’s perfectly decent and totally watchable. It’s just not particularly exciting despite all the famous faces and blockbuster razzmatazz. There’s very little here that didn’t work better in the 1974 cinematic adaptation of this story and not only will viewers who remember that version likely shrug off the new one, but the creaky old conventions in play are unlikely to bring in many new viewers. Sure, murder and intrigue and famous and big ol’ set pieces all pop up in the flick on the regular, just in ways that feel awkwardly out of date and forced into contemporary mainstream filmmaking styles at once. Kenneth Branagh and Daisy Ridley in Murder on the Orient Express 2017 – image via 21st Century Fox At the centre of it all is Kenneth Branagh, not just over-directing the hell out of the movie so that every camera angle is a canted show off shot filled with unnecessary CGI effects to needlessly expand the scale, but also overacting as a Belgian super detective who is a cross between a less funny Inspector Clouseau and a less exciting Sherlock Holmes. The guy goes big as both director and actor, chewing scenery and whipping the camera around like a Michael Bay oddly obsessed with gentle early 20th century mysteries. It can get a bit overbearing, but it’s also frequently fun. There are few blockbuster specialists in history as unexpected as Branagh and he’s gotten good at what he does. Sure the focus is middlebrow and dated, but that’s to be expected from the Branagh at this point. Mugging overacting isn’t always a given with the guy, but that’s fine. After all, he’s got a hell of a cast to try and overshadow at the centre. Indeed, there’s virtually no one in this sprawling list of murder suspects who isn’t super famous or at least instantly recognizable. The big name is Johnny Depp, playing a dastardly jerk pretty much destined to be murdered from the second he opens his mouth and spits out a vulgar old timey criminal accent in a distinctly British tale. After Depp’s role is reduced to a bloody corpse, it’s up to the likes of Judi Dench, Daisy Ridley, Willem Dafoe, Josh Gad, Penelope Cruz, and Michelle Pfeiffer to act super suspicious as Branagh runs through the suspects. Some of the performers are wasted, some are overused, some are awkwardly out of place, and exactly one of them shines brightly. That’d be Michelle Pfeiffer, who does so much with so little you can’t help but hope that she’s primed for a comeback. Other than that, it’s fun to see these famous faces do shifty-eyed acting. But ultimately, this type of mystery writing and characterization has been around for so long that little of it surprises. The story is still well told and lands on a pretty great solution to all the parlour games, but it ultimately feels old fashioned rather than nostalgic. The type of story best suited to BBC broadcast, no many how many famous faces, special effects, and show-off camera moves Branagh lavishes all over the material. Judi Dench and Olivia Colman in Murder on the Orient Express 2017 – image via 21st Century Fox That’s ultimately the biggest problem with Murder On The Orient Express; we’ve been here before and enough times that there’s little need to do it again. Sure, it’s kind of fun to watch a clearly amused Kenneth Branagh get to play with one of the most expensive train sets ever constructed while sharing the stage with a bunch of famous friends. It’s just also a bit rich to think that Branagh and the studio seem so cockily convinced that they can stretch this thing into a blockbuster franchise for grownups. This is a passable bit of light entertainment, but hardly something worthy of a multi-year and film investment. Fortunately, it’s highly unlikely enough people will show up for this stagey bit of faux blockbusterdom to imagine it all leading to an Agatha Christie Cinematic Universe. It’ll likely be a quickly dismissed and forgotten experiment. But hey, at least Branagh and a bunch of his famous friends had a bunch of fun making a movie, right? Sure, it would have been better if audiences had even half as much fun watching the results. But hey, you can’t have everything, right? Fortythree years after Sidney Lumet’s star-studded movie adaptation, Agatha Christie's popular novel returns to the big screen. Produced, directed and starring Kenneth Branagh as the famous detective, who is again complemented by a great swath of stars (Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz, Judi Dench), 2017’s Murder on the Orient Express misses the boat.

A movie about how much of a royal pain in the ass it was to kill someone before civilians had easy access to AR-15s, Kenneth Branagh’s “Murder on the Orient Express” is an undercooked Christmas ham of a movie, the kind of flamboyant holiday feast that Hollywood doesn’t really serve anymore. Arrestingly sumptuous from the very first shot and filmed in glorious 65mm, this cozy new riff on Agatha Christie’s classic mystery is such an old-fashioned yarn that it could have been made back in 1934 if not for all the terrible CGI snow and a late-career, post-disgrace Johnny Depp performance that reeks of 21st century fatigue. Indeed, it’s hard to overstate just how refreshing it feels to see a snug, gilded piece of studio entertainment that doesn’t involve any spandex. Or, more accurately, how refreshing it would have felt had Branagh understood why Christie’s story has stood the test of time. You know the plot, even if you’ve forgotten the twist. The world is between wars, winter is settling in, and famous Belgian detective Hercule Poirot Branagh is being summoned back to Britain for his next case. The fastest way there The Orient Express, one of those first class sleeper that America dumped in favor of Amtrak. A gilded mahogany serpent so refined that passengers are inspired to wear tuxedos to the dining car and directors are inspired to weave through the cabins in elegant tracking shots that bring us right on board, the Orient Express is an exclusive experience for a certain class of people. The paying customers on this particular trip naturally resemble a game of “Clue.” There’s a thirsty heiress Michelle Pfeiffer, a missionary Penélope Cruz, a plainclothes Nazi Willem Dafoe, a smattering of royalty that ranges in age from Judi Dench to “Sing Street” breakout Lucy Boynton, a governess Daisy Ridley, holding her own without a lightsaber in her hands, and the man she loves in secret “Hamilton” MVP Leslie Odom Jr., a movie star in the making. There’s also Depp’s crooked art dealer — the eventual corpse — and Josh Gad as his right-hand man; the cast is so deep that Derek Jacobi barely rates a mention. But one star forces the others into his orbit, and that is Branagh himself. Poirot has always been the engine for Christie’s mysteries, and not their fuel, but Branagh’s version doesn’t see things that way. In this script, penned by “Blade Runner 2049” screenwriter Michael Green, Poirot is always the top priority. From the stilted prologue in which the great detective is introduced with an undue degree of suspense, to the nauseating farewell that inevitably teases a Hercule Poirot Cinematic Universe, Branagh’s take on the character is lodged somewhere between a Shakespearian fool and a superhero. Filtered through a Pepé Le Pew accent that stinks from start to finish, he’s a walking spotlight in a film that feels like a Broadway revival, a live-action cartoon who’s more mustache than man. Branagh chews a dangerous amount of scenery for such a confined set, but the real problem is what the film has to do in order to justify his exaggerated presence It has to give Poirot an arc. Once the train derails on a rickety wooden bridge and Depp winds up dead in his cabin, the story should shift into mystery mode, with Poirot instigating our own imaginations. Here, however, Branagh blocks us out. What Christie learned from the likes of Arthur Conan Doyle is that geniuses are only believable if they’re actually geniuses — detective stories don’t work if they hinge on their protagonists sleuthing out something that a child could see for themselves. That’s true of the mysteries, and it’s true of their solutions. Poirot is supposed to be a genius, but here he’s an idiot savant. “There is right and there is wrong,” he declares early on, “and there is nothing in between.” “Murder on the Orient Express” You’d think, after solving however many cases, that he might have figured that out by now. But no, Poirot is obsessed with balance and restoring order to the world. The eggs he eats for breakfast have to be the same size. After accidentally stepping in horse poop with one shoe, he deliberately steps into it with the other. In a movie shot from so many dutch angles that the screen starts to seem tilted, Poirot is the only person who doesn’t recognize that the world isn’t flat, and that morality can never be perfectly measured. It’s agonizing to watch the brilliant detective work out such a simple concept, Branagh’s film growing long in the tooth even though it’s selling itself short. “Murder on the Orient Express” is a creaky whodunnit in this day and age, and there’s not much that Branagh can or chooses to do about that without disrespecting the source material. His well-meaning but half-assed reach for relevance involves a certain degree of wokeness, this version highlighting the pluralism of Christie’s original in its backhanded celebration of American diversity, its conclusion that any true melting pot is sustained by fostering a mutual desire for justice. Race comes to the fore, with Odom inhabiting a role that was once played by Sean Connery. Interesting things percolate under the surface, as all of the passengers are traveling with a lot of baggage. But the movie only cares about the suspects for as long as they’re sharing the screen with Poirot. Even Pfeiffer’s big moment is relegated to the end credits, where she can be heard singing a love ballad called “Never Forget.” Like everything else here, it’s hard to remember. A handsomely furnished holiday movie that should have devoted more attention to its many ornaments and less to the tinsel at the top, this “Murder on the Orient Express” loses steam as soon as it leaves the station. Grade C “Murder on the Orient Express” opens in theaters on Friday, November 10. Sign Up Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here.

Murderon the Orient Express (2017) Movie Review December 12, 2017 Steve Baqqi I have never read a single Agatha Christie book, nor could I recall having seen a single movie or T.V. show based on her work until I started doing supplementary research on this movie (call me unenlightened).

There is a moment early in Kenneth Branagh’s intricately constructed adaptation of Agatha Christie’s classic whodunnit when Hercule Poirot Branagh stands on the deck of a ship as it leaves Istanbul. Poirot is captured center frame The deck, the railing, the adjacent cabin and the sea itself are balanced perfectly around him. The shot is illustrative of Murder on the Orient Express as a whole, which centers upon Poirot as the audience’s guide through the cinematic lattice, and also as the center of the film’s thematic and indeed philosophical exploration. As one would expect in a detective drama, Poirot provides the balance between mystery and understanding, but this conceit goes further, as this very balance becomes less steady and understanding less certain as the narrative unfolds. The twists and turns of the story are well known to many. This reviewer, however, had the pleasure of not knowing the story at all and therefore encountered the titular murder and subsequent investigation as a series of reveals and genuine surprises. Even those familiar with the story, however, may find much to enjoy with Branagh’s stylish presentation and delivery. Director of photography Haris Zambarloukos creates a mobile and captivating cinematography, including some extraordinary overhead shots that delay showing the full extent of a scene just long enough for the viewer to cease expecting it, before the camera pans to reveal further details. Zambarloukos also captures much of the film in long takes reminiscent of the work of Emmanuel Lubezki in “Birdman” and “The Revenant.” Like the latter of these, a cold and snowy environment enshrouds the events of Murder On The Orient Express, vast mountains dwarfing the eponymous train as it moves with a smooth motion similar to that of the camera. This fluid visual style neatly complements the wattage of the starry cast who play the passengers aboard the famous train, all of which are neatly sketched and provide a colorful collection of characters. From Johnny Depp’s “Pirates of the Caribbean Dead Men Tell No Tales” oily Edward Ratchett who spars words with Poirot over cake, to Judi Dench’s “Victoria and Abdul” haughty Princess Dragomiroff and her seemingly downtrodden maid Hildegarde Schmidt Olivia Colman, “Tyrannosaur”; from Michelle Pfeiffer’s “mother!” overly garrulous Caroline Hubbard to regular Branagh collaborator Derek Jacobi’s “My Week with Marilyn” Edward Henry Masterman; from Willem Dafoe’s “The Florida Project” curiously accented Gerhard Hardman to Daisy Ridley’s “Star Wars The Last Jedi” stellar turn as the cool and collected Mary Debenham, each passenger/suspect is more than they seem and provides an excellent foil to Poirot. Yet the film ensures that Poirot himself is also layered, as a constant strain of melancholy plays behind Branagh’s searching eyes and flamboyant mustache. Poirot’s remarkable deductive abilities and suggestions of obsessive compulsive disorder are balanced with regular references to a photograph of a lost love, and a broader sadness at a world that he believes is not how it should be. This belief feeds into the philosophical investigation of Murder on the Orient Express, which seems to develop in response to Poirot’s a rather naïve moral perspective, expressed early in the film “I can only see a world as it should be. It makes an imperfection stick out like the nose on your face.” His view proves highly significant, as while the viewer may agree or disagree with Poirot, it makes sense that a detective would create a mental construct as a bulwark against the contradictions and iniquities that Branagh’s character encounters. But as Poirot and the audience learns, if no one is what they seem, perhaps the world at large is similarly dubious and possessed of shades of gray. This conceit plays into the visuals, as at times the largely digital exteriors are at odds with the physical interiors. Jim Clay’s production design evokes a sense of period, location and society, but the digital effects seem overly pristine and smack of artifice, modernity and transience. Yet this tension is thematically effective as Murder On The Orient Express is acutely interested in the tensions between artifice and reality. Many shots capture the characters through multi-paned windows, expressing the multiple roles they play and the various perspectives available, both narratively and morally. The film emphasizes such relativity in moments when Poirot reconstructs the events of the titular and other crimes, in a manner similar though more reserved than that seen in “The Limehouse Golem” earlier this year. Also unlike that film, Murder On The Orient Express eschews gore, which again supports the somewhat conservative morality that Poirot puts forward, and adds further meat to the philosophical meal. So much visual and narrative backflipping might become wearing if without purpose, but where the film goes with this perspective proves to be arresting and feels quite radical. At one point there seems to be a resolution that feels somewhat anticlimactic, but more is still to come before Branagh/Poirot delivers the coup de grace that is both expected yet refreshing and pleasingly ambiguous. This ambiguity undercuts the overtly artificial construction of the film’s milieu, demonstrating that standards of morality and ethics may be as much a construct as the mechanisms of a railroad, or indeed a plot. It is the film’s philosophical investigation, that perhaps Ludwig Wittgenstein might enjoy, that elevates Murder on the Orient Express into something special. Combined with his starry cast, intricate and vivacious storytelling, Branagh has breathed new life into a classic story, making it fresh, vibrant and relevant.

Murderon the Orient Express is a 2017 mystery thriller film directed by Kenneth Branagh with a screenplay by Michael Green, based on

A Lot or a Little? What you will—and won't—find in this movie. Where to Watch Videos and Photos Parents say 24 Kids say 51 age 12+ Based on 24 parent reviews April 20, 2023 Totally awesome mystery movie! Entertaining whodunnit doesn’t have too much violence nor bad language. This movie is based on the book by Agatha Christie and the first version of the movie in 1974. Although the movie isn’t very violent it does have some drinking alcohol and consuming drugs. There is some violence a man gets stabbed 12 times in the stomach and some violent dialogue but nothing too hairy. Families will enjoy this murder mystery sequel and will love the storyline. I think this movie is great for ages 10+ This title has Great messages Great role models Too much drinking/drugs/smoking 1 person found this helpful. May 30, 2022 Classic whodunit with a lot of style and panache Excellently shot, fantastic pacing and appropriate liberties were taken with the source material. Fabu job modernizing the portrayals in order to have a cast that reflects 2017 and contemporizing the mystery so more of the audience is invested. Branagh does a fabulous job...on pins and needles for Death on the Nile. What's the Story? In MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS, master detective Hercule Poirot Kenneth Branagh has just solved a case in Jerusalem and is looking forward to a vacation. Unfortunately, he's summoned to another case in London and must board the Orient Express. A boorish passenger, Ratchett Johnny Depp, whose business appears shady, tries to hire Poirot for protection. Next thing anyone knows, Ratchett has been murdered, and there's a whole train car full of suspects. Poirot interviews them one by one, including Ratchett's secretary Josh Gad, his valet Derek Jacobi, a society lady Michelle Pfeiffer, a princess Judi Dench, a professor Willem Dafoe, a governess Daisy Ridley, a doctor Leslie Odom Jr., and a missionary Penelope Cruz. But the more Poirot learns, the less the clues seem to add up; they even seem to contradict one another. He comes to realize that this case will lead him to question everything he knows. Is It Any Good? Branagh calls on his finest classical directing skills to make this smart, old-fashioned murder mystery into an enjoyable, great-looking entertainment, with an ensemble cast to die for. Based on the novel by Agatha Christie, Branagh's colorful, fluid Murder on the Orient Express is a worthy companion to the book's previous big-screen adaptation, Sidney Lumet's 1974 version. Best of all, Branagh directs himself in the role of the famous detective Poirot, and it's as natural a fit as his outings as Henry V and Hamlet were. Branagh finds a fascinating emotional center to the character, a certain kind of pain that drives him, rather than just being really smart. Plus he has an amazing mustache. The movie takes place in a single location, but Branagh's camera moves gracefully through the narrow corridors; he never constricts or tightens for suspense purposes. He goes outside, or above, or wide, to bring all the characters together on a human level. He also uses mirrors and windows to fascinating effect. This isn't a traditional murder mystery, in that it's not particularly suspenseful or thrilling. Rather, it's content and mature enough to explore the reasons behind it all, to find the soul of the thing. This is a movie aimed at viewers who have a little bit of patience and who don't mind a little bit of the way things used to be. Talk to Your Kids About ... Families can talk about Murder on the Orient Express's violence. How much is actually shown? What's the impact of the violence that's not shown? Is this thrilling or shocking? How does the movie depict drinking and drugs? Are they glamorized? Do any of the characters appear to be addicts? What indicates that? What does the movie have to say about racism and discrimination? Which characters appear to be intolerant of characters from other cultures? How are they treated by others? Like Poirot, do you believe that there are simple, black-and-white solutions for every problem? Why or why not? Why do you think author Agatha Christie and her character Hercule Poirot have such enduring appeal? Movie Details In theaters November 10, 2017 On DVD or streaming February 27, 2018 Cast Daisy Ridley, Johnny Depp, Judi Dench, Kenneth Branagh Director Kenneth Branagh Studio Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation Genre Thriller Topics Book Characters Run time 114 minutes MPAA rating PG-13 MPAA explanation violence and thematic elements Last updated July 2, 2022 Did we miss something on diversity? Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update. Where to Watch Our Editors Recommend Thriller Movies Mystery TV Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners. See how we rate

Murderon the Orient Experss merupakan film detektif yang menarik ditonton. Anda akan menemukan banyak kejutan di film ini. Murder on the Orient Express (2017) Pemecahan Teka-teki yang Mengasyikkan Poirot bertemu Bouc (Tom Bateman) di Istambul dan meminta bantuannya agar bisa naik ke kereta Orient Express yang dipimpinnya.

The2017 remake of the Murder on the Orient Express is definitely a film to remember. The stellar cast and riveting action along with hints of comedy result in a great movie. Originally a novel published in 1934 by Agatha Christie, Murder on the Orient Express was made into a movie in 1974.

Murderon the Orient Express (2017 film) - Wikipedia Murder on the Orient Express (2017) cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. Murder on the Orient Express (2017) - Full Cast & Crew - IMDb Directed by Philip Martin. With David Suchet, Tristan Shepherd, Sam Crane, Toby Jones.

Murderon the Orient Express Review By Rich Cline The latest adaptation of Agatha Christie's 83-year-old classic whodunit, this lavish, star-studded film is old-style entertainment.

Murderon the Orient Express [2017] is one of five adaptation of the classic Agatha Christie novel that was published in 1934. But this time the adaptation has a very capable combination of Kenneth Branagh running the show with an adapted screenplay from Michael Green (Logan and Blade Runner: 2049).The film follows the esteemed Detective Hercule Poirot (Branagh) as a

The1974 film with Sidney Lumet lacks the visual flair and dramatic tension of this experience, and I prefer Branagh's film in almost every way. In a world where a film with a spirit as sincere as this one will almost certainly be derided by some, I had one of the most genuinely enjoyable experiences of my movie-going year.

^{Moviereview: “Murder on the Orient Express” By Gary Dowell | 2017-11-09T:00 November 9th, 2017 | Actor-director Kenneth Branagh’s workmanlike adaptation of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express is diverting, crammed full of strong but unremarkable performances from an impressive ensemble cast, and mercifully short}

Theremake of Murder on the Orient Express introduces us to the very famous but extremely balanced detective, Hercule Poirot enrolled by Kenneth Branagh, with a wide moustache and a very investigator-like voice. This movie is better at introducing us to the characters and the pacy concept than the original, and it does so in a shorter runtime.

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