Murder On The Orient Express is a drama mystery film directed by Kenneth Branagh, who also stars as Hercule Poirot. The plot revolves around a murder on the titular Orient Express that forces famed detective Poirot to abandon his holiday and take action.
I have seen this film several times now, with last night being the most recent, and I have to say this is a tremendous film. The problem with these kind of films is that once you know who the killer is, the fun isn’t there anymore, so it has no rewatch value. This I can say with confidence does not suffer from that problem and is incredibly entertaining even when you have seen it as many times as I have.
Branagh gives a tour de force performance and steals the entire film, no one else can compete with him on the acting front. That I would say is the great issue with this film, the cast outside of Branagh is made up of some incredibly talented people, but because there are a lot of them, none of them really shine. The cast could have done with being thinned out a bit.
The emotion in this film, especially around the big reveal, feels pitch perfect. It hits you hard and square in the chest and you question what right is in this situation just like Poirot does.
Overall, a very fun murder mystery film with a great performance from Branagh.
Pros.
Branagh
The mystery
How easily rewatchable it is
The emotion and the reveal
Cons.
Wasting a strong supporting cast
4/5
Reviewed by Luke
Another Millennial Reviewer 