First Take: Murder on the Orient Express- reviewed on the day of a rail strike. Seriously.

SYPNOSIS: A lavish train ride unfolds into a stylish &
suspenseful mystery. From the novel by Agatha Christie, Murder on the Orient
Express tells of thirteen stranded strangers & one man’s race to solve the
puzzle before the murderer strikes again.

Agatha Christie books are quite rightly regarded as being
one of the pillars of the literary world, and with a director like Kenneth
Branagh doing the bold move of taking Christie’s most iconic work to the big
screen, there was a lot of nerves regarding the quality of the film, and
unfortunately it favours style over substance in many ways- it’s a good film,
but not without flaws.

Branagh’s direction is good throughout, and while the pacing
of the film stumbles at points, he’s able to keep the tension rolling along for
the 1 hour 54 minute running time, building to a very divisive plot reveal at
the film’s climax. The script from Michael Green does do the book justice
though, and fans both new and old will be able to engage with the film easily,
which handily brings me to where this film excels- the technical aspects. It’s
shot brilliantly by Haris Zambarloukos, and Patrick Doyle’s score is what we
call a Ronseal job- it does what it says on the tin.

And then, there’s the small matter of one of the finest
casts to be assembled for a film of this stature. Branagh leads very well as
Poirot, and while his portrayal of the character isn’t being compared as
favourably to David Suchet’s version for ITV’s adaptations of Christie’s books,
he still makes it feel believable. The supporting cast as a whole are great,
from Daisy Ridley, to Willem Defoe and Johnny Depp amongst other legendary British talents (including Dame Judi Dench and Broadchurch alumni Olivia Colman), the cast nail it, it’s just
a shame that the execution of the film’s plot left me feeling a little
disappointed.

THE VERDICT

Stylish, bold and designed for the big screen, the latest
adaptation of Murder on the Orient express is a decent film, but due to its pacing
issues, and emphasis on unique filmmaking techniques over actual plot
development, the hype created by the trailers just wasn’t there.

RATING: 3.5/5