FilmSnobReviews

Title: Murder on the Orient Express
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Starring: Kenneth Branagh, Daisy Ridley, Michelle Pfeiffer
Runtime: 1 hr 54 mins

What It Is: Hercule Poirot (Branagh) is a detective of Belgian descent and perhaps the best one in the world. When the train he’s on, the titular Orient Express is stuck in the snow and a fellow passenger has died. Murder. Foul play? Definite. Now every passenger beside Poirot is a suspect. With his extremely good powers of perception, Poirot will try to solve this conundrum but the results may lead him down an unexpected path.

What We Think: Most of this is fairly good but it all leads nowhere as the conclusion is a mess. The third act which, in a murder mystery such as this should leave us with a great wrap up instead leaves us with more questions than answers, and not in a good way. Each character, though distinct is not very interesting. I enjoyed what Branagh brought from behind the chair and overall the cinematography is gorgeous. Johnny Depp is…in the movie that’s really all I can say about that. A lot of the acting comes off stiff and stale but Branagh and Pfeiffer steal every scene they’re in.

Our Grade: C+, Is it great? No, not particularly. It is, however, a fairly entertaining ride. It all ends up a bit too drawn out with its almost 2-hour runtime. You gotta cut that down Kenneth. It’s just too long. Something like this could’ve easily been rounded up in 90 to 95 minutes. For the cast Branagh had to work with this is a bit of a misfire, to say the least. With that, I’ll say that I really don’t strongly recommend this one, but it is entertaining enough to fill a two-hour void window in your schedule.