MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS Nov 2017

CAST

Tom Bateman, Kenneth Branagh, Penélope Cruz, Willem Dafoe, Judi Dench, Johnny Depp, Josh Gad, Derek Jacobi, Leslie Odom Jr., Michelle Pfeiffer, Daisy Ridley, Marwan Kenzari, Lucy Boynton, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Sergei Polunin

I just got back from seeing Orient Express : the new one with Kenneth Branagh- and it was NOTHING like i was expecting.. and to be honest i am Delighted by that fact...

one other point before i start. while this is a MOVIE. it IS essentially a play on a specific & limited stage. it doesnt have the kind of wild & bloody shootem up bang bang excitement most movies seem to have now days. everything has to happen on that limited stage.. its the essence & part of what i Enjoyed about the movie.. I personally give it 4.5stars

understand 3 things
1) i am A LONG STANDING fan of Agatha Christie: i recently read a review who complained about Christie's mysteries that has the reader as being an observer rather than falling into the story.. i guess i prefer that.. i like trying to figure out how the detective is figuring things out.. invariably i end up rereading a story to see how i missed the obvious clues lol... so yes i love that.. If you dont Orient Express may irritate you..

2) as much as i hate to admit it i AM a Fan of Johnny Depp. in spite of himself sometimes. his role in this movie is remarkably restrained -- tight & rough as the character is SUPPOSED to be. not a Johnny extravaganza that apparently some expected & were disappointed not to get. so yea for Branagh's Directing for keeping him IN character!

3) i AM NOT a Branagh fan as a rule.. every time i see him he seems 'over the top' in whatever role. kinda like the complaints about depp. hard to see the character for the actor. Not to mention the deep prejudice of many that David Suchet's role in Sidney Lumet’s 1974 adaptation is the best out there. (he does portray Poirot physically to perfection but even he takes him 'out there' a bit. I found Branagh's Poirot a bit more realistic, a bit more 'human' as it were. Obviously still very OCD in his fanatic pursuit of 'balance' but still more understanding of other humans than has been portrayed before..

I will say the cinematography was awesome and the DETAILS on the train mind boggling (1930s Lightbulbs for heaven sakes & the measuring the silverware placement in the dining car.. they DID that then!!!) nice tiny details that make things more fun to watch & watch for.

the main negatives that i see in this version is there isnt time/effort to fill the other charactors in as much as i would like.. they remain fairly shallow- but then they were in the book as well.. with such excellent actors portraying them i would have liked to 'know the charactors just a bit more. nothing bad about them, just not enough of them.

As there are still some few out there who do not know the story or its ending i wont go into further detail on that. Suffice it to say, one thing i havent really seen in previous versions of the movie. this one acknowledges this is a Murder (not just a mystery) and like all murders its a tragedy and no matter how good the detective is, how well he does his job, he cannot mend the damages done by such a tragedy. he can only hope to find justice somewhere in the pain of it.

i didnt leave the theater smiling but i did leave it feeling what the depth of the story was really about. i count that as a successful movie