by John Zenoni
I could not wait to see “Murder on the Orient Express”, having gotten excited by the trailer with its all-star cast, so I made it out to the preview tonight to check it out. I had already read a couple of reviews and knew going in that they were mixed but I was determined not to let this damper my eagerness to see it.
Well, for the most part I have to agree with the reviews. The casting of himself, Kenneth Branagh, the films director, as the world famous detective Hercule Poirot, was a smart move. At first I was somewhat having issues with his accent but after a few minutes I finally was able to accept it. The only distracting and annoying thing was his moustache. Hideous, to say the least. But as far as the character, and Branagh’s performance, it was great. Branagh is totally believable as the detective and I can see that he will be able to play this role for years to come. The setting and scenery in the film is remarkable and it was a clear reminder of the old film-noir type movies. The biggest issue with the film is the development of the other characters. I guess because of the number of people in the film it was hard to really build out their characters but it was somewhat of a let down that each star in the film only had smaller roles and minimal screen time. This is not to say that they were not good, but they just did not add much to the plot. This is a Branagh film all the way. The ending is something I did not see coming so that was a great surprise.
One of the biggest pluses for me though about the film is that it is a rarity today to see a movie with this type of cast and there is no sex, extreme violence or constant bad language. That made it an enjoyable film to watch and hope that more like this will be forthcoming.
Originally Posted 11/10/17
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