Murder on the Orient Express

This will likely be one of my shorter reviews as there isn't a whole lot to say about Kenneth Branagh's new movie, Murder on the Orient Express. 

And that's not necessarily a bad thing. 

Surprisingly, I have NOT read the book before seeing this one, but I did go with my lovely girlfriend who enjoys a good mystery and powered through the book before this film's release. 

From the initial, Imagine-Dragons-laced advertisements, I've been pretty keen on seeing this for a variety of reasons. An old, timey mystery -- somewhere along the line -- felt just like what the doctor ordered and one featuring a capable director, no less. Then there's the cast itself featuring a bunch of A-list celebrities playing different highlighted roles as if it were a big game of Clue. And yeah, Daisy Ridley. So sue me. 

Either way, Murder on the Orient Express looked like an entertaining who-dun-it and boy I tell ya, I really wanted to see if they'd sneak that unfitting-but-oddly-satisfying Imagine Dragons song into the main film somewhere!

Now there's a mystery to be solved!

Maybe the best way to start my review out is to orient (ha, get it?) my readers on my expectations of the film, or rather, state that Orient Express met them. Pretty much right on the nose, which is rare these days. It's been a while since I went into a film expecting exactly what I got out of it, but my slightly-excited but realistic expectations for this film were well placed. It's not a film that's going to set the world on fire and end up on Top 10 lists for the most part. But it's also a film that doesn't really do anything poorly. Similar to Ron Howard (or at least in my opinion since this may be a hot take), director Kenneth Branagh has a lot of talent behind the camera. What he lacks in "signature" style or that "special something" he makes up for with not dropping the ball in other areas. Other than the script not really lining up with the time period, I cant say that Orient Express does much wrong. Unfortunately though -- and this is really just the nature of the story -- it's really a one-time view. I try to not take that too much into consideration, but nonetheless, I'd never need to see/watch this again once you know the truth. Additionally, it really does lack that special something to put it over the edge aside from the final scene where the big reveal happens and there are some stars that feel heavily sidelined. Granted that's bound to happen in a story with 10+ characters centered around a main detective, but Penelope Cruz seems like a pretty big name to only give a handful of lines and ~4 minutes of screen time to. 

A new superhero perhaps? I'd watch him again...

"You smell like a pirate..."

The characters end up being part of the fun, however. Seeing all these big names in there adds for some wow factor and it truly does become a guessing game for 85% of the film as to who did it. Super astute viewers may get it right away, but in general Orient Express keeps its mystery unraveling at a rather breakneck pace making for a swift-feeling film. When someone was being approached/accused it was fun to have that doubting feeling of "Is this just misdirection? I'm pretty sure it is..." and sure enough another clue would emerge that took the investigation elsewhere. Branagh is a delight as the genius detective and, having not seen him in a while, reminds me that I quite like seeing him on screen. He's got a definite presence and he's probably the only one that could pull off a mustache like that. Almost everyone else is considered a "side" character with Gad, Ridley, and Depp getting the most screen time. Everyone is perfectly competent in their roles and it's clear that this is Branagh's movie both as director and star. If he had gone down a road of introducing everyone with some backstory it likely would have approached the 2.5 hour mark and I don't think anyone wants/needs an Orient Express film of that length. 

On to Star Wars!!

Something I rarely do is make mention of a particular scene or series of scenes within a given film. I feel as if I should so here because the ending to Orient Express is really what pushed it over the good-to-great hump for me. I guessed the final culprit only a few minutes before it was revealed, but there is an additional weight and directorial talent during the film's final moments. It's very well thought out, explained, and filmed and I enjoyed it immensely -- happy to see a film that I'd been digging for the first 90 minutes end so well. Even if you figure the mystery out from the get go, I still think the ending is that well structured and delivered that it deserves some extra praise. Plus it's about the only part of the film with a great piece of original music to accompany it, so obviously it gets bonus points there. 

Orient Express is an easygoing delight of a film that doesn't really shoot for the stars, but doesn't need to. Hell, it's got plenty of them in its cast alone to accomplish the intrigue but some very competent direction from Branagh, a great central performance from Branagh, a well told and paced mystery, and a fantastic ending result in a film that I'd be hard pressed for someone not to enjoy. As I stated earlier, it's not going to "win all the awards" or make crazy superhero money, but not every film needs to set out to do that. Some films just need to set out to take us on a journey and that's exactly what Orient Express does.


CONS

• Language  of the script seems a bit off for the time period
• Lacks that special something for most of the film
• Sidelines some of the bigger stars
• One time view film

PROS

• Very capable direction from Branagh who doesn't outright drop the ball anywhere
• Fun, central performance from him as well
• Perfectly suitable performances from everyone else
• Features some unique cinematography and camera angles throughout
• Breezes along and the mystery just gets more and more interesting. Has some pretty good misdirects throughout
• Costumes/set design for the time period and train are a lot of fun and extravagent
• Fantastic ending that is a notch above the rest of the film

Rath's Review Score | 8/10