Murder on the Orient Express (2017)
This movie is gorgeous. It’s stunningly beautiful.
Kenneth Branaugh as Hercule Poirot — at first, I didn’t buy it. I had David Suchet so firmly rooted in my mind as the famous Agatha Christie detective.
The Poirot series he starred in was a delightful watch. But this isn’t a review of that show. It’s a review of the Kenneth Branaugh directed and produced Murder on the Orient Express adaptation — that he also stars by playing Hercule Poirot.
I’m glad that he went with a different visual style for Poirot than what, I think, people typically think of Poirot as I don’t think he’d be able to pull it off and he’d invite comparisons that would be unfavorable. I don’t think he’s better than Suchet, but there isn’t nearly as much time of him as Poirot to give an honest comparison. With the hope of sequels, we can see.
And I say hope, not dread, because this movie is good fun.
Going in, I had no idea who the killer(s) were…or who died. This was one of the few times in my life where I have remained unspoiled. I wanted to find out so that energized my desire to find out through this movie. Asides from that innate curiosity, the movie does a great deal to keep us interested and tease us with clues (it doesn’t leave things out!). All the while, keeping us in the loop with what Poirot is thinking. As a mystery movie, it’s a great one, but as it adapts one of Christie’s most well known works, it better get that right and it did.
The tight cast of characters, which is part of the original story, is well played throughout the film in terms of acting and in application. They each have their moments to shine and reveal their secrets. Some have more time than others, out of plot necessity, but are all well acted with what parts they have. It’s a really solid cast, actually.
…So the movie is a good Christie adaptation. What makes it standout?
The visuals. I watched one of the making of extras and it really explains what you experience throughout the film. This sense of scope and immersion. Even watching the menu preview clips really gives you this feeling of luxury and lusciousness. The colors and grandness of everything is so potent throughout the almost two hour runtime. They shot it on 65mm, which was because they wanted to capture exactly that. And they did.
This is such a pretty movie and it’s all shot in such a tiny area. And that small area was really built out to film on. Practically all the sets were constructed and functional. I’m talking real tracks, real snow, and so on. It’s staggering. They did a few long takes that leveraged the realness of the set and sold the space the story was told in.
You really feel pulled into this time period and into the sliver of a world it presents. Any movie that can do that gets special props from me. I love me some good visuals and this one had it in spades.
I recommend it solely for being gorgeous. Yes, it’s a good murder mystery and Agatha Christie story, but the visuals! Watch it for mystery, but get roped in by the sets, costumes, and aesthetics.
