Murder on the Orient Express (2017) [Blu-ray]
Crime | Drama | Mystery

Tagline: Everyone is a Suspect.

What starts out as a lavish train ride through Europe quickly unfolds into one of the most stylish, suspenseful and thrilling mysteries ever told. From the novel by best-selling author Agatha Christie, "Murder on the Orient Express" tells the tale of thirteen strangers stranded on a train, where everyone's a suspect. One man must race against time to solve the puzzle before the murderer strikes again. Kenneth Branagh directs and leads an all-star cast including Penélope Cruz, Willem Dafoe, Judi Dench, Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Daisy Ridley and Josh Gad.

Storyline: Hercule Poirot, the best detective in the world decides to leave on the Orient Express. The train accidentally gets stopped because of a small avalanche. Little did he know that a murder was planned and that a person on this train was able of committing such crime. Will he solve this murder before the train starts working again? Written by DoomRanger

Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman, February 27, 2018 There's a perhaps inherent problem in adaptations of mysteries as iconic as some of Agatha Christie's are — any mystery lover worth his or her salt is going to know the solution going in, especially if any given property has already been adapted at least once. That's proved to be both boon and bane for various large and small screen transfers of some of Christie's best known properties. I just recently reviewed one of many adaptations of what is arguably Christie's best known work (and inarguably one of her best selling), Ten Little Indians

(a review which had a mystery of its own — it actually enigmatically disappeared for a few days, no joke, rather like Agatha herself, in fact), and discussed some of the many versions of that tale that have made it through to both television and cinema, and some of the changes that have been attendant with those variant versions. Interestingly, the big "reveal" at the end of most versions of Ten Little Indians is not part of Christie's original novelistic formulation, though the kinda sorta happy ending of several of these adaptations was in fact crafted by Christie for her own stage adaptation of the story. There's something a bit trickier at play with regard to Murder on the Orient Express, since there's really no way to successfully alter the ingenious plotting in the same way that Ten Little Indians in at least one adaptive guise was able to get back to the original (extremely dark) formulation of Christie's climax as originally written (even if other elements in this very same adaptation strayed pretty seriously from Christie canon). And that's at least part of the rub with regard to this handsome new 2017 iteration of what arguably might be Christie's second best known mystery, Murder on the Orient Express, a film which is almost unavoidably going to invite comparisons to at least the celebrated 1974 film, if not the David Suchet Poirot: Murder on the Orient Express, a version which did indeed attempt to inject at least a little new content into the proceedings, mostly with regard to a (needless, in my not so humble opinion) subtext involving Poirot's incipient religiosity and how that played into his reaction as to what really happened aboard the luxurious train.

Note: If you have somehow made it this far in life without learning the "secret" of Murder on the Orient Express, you may want to skip down to the technical portions of the review, below. I don't out and out spoil anything here, but those who are adept at reading between the veritable lines may be able to discern a few clues.

There have been attempts to rejigger classic Christie works, notably with the relatively recent Agatha Christie's Marple reboot, an effort which often seriously changed elements of various stories and characters, in an obvious stab (no murder pun intended) at keeping things surprising for those who knew the originals. That approach hasn't always sat that well with me personally, since I'm something of a Christie purist, but some might argue that one of the chief problems with this new adaptation is that it doesn't change enough (though interestingly one of the changes this version does indulge in is giving Poirot a long ago love, something that Marple also exploited). It's probably no coincidence that this Murder on the Orient Express doesn't even get to the titular train ride until several minutes into the enterprise, using a whole opening sequence to document a "Moishe the Explainer" moment from a mystery Hercule Poirot (Kenneth Branagh, who also directed) has solved in Jerusalem. It's really a kind of pointless introduction, other than that it gives the first glimpse in this film's emphasis on Poirot's Monk-like tendencies toward obsessive compulsive disorder.

As arguably irrelevant as the opening of this Murder on the Orient Express is, it at least doesn't follow the strategy of the 1974 version, one which started with supposed newsreel footage of a devastating kidnapping and murder, an element which (for those who know the story) could conceivably be seen as giving away the gist of the solution before anything really even gets going. Instead, the whole connection to this devastating event is revealed in a bit more piecemeal fashion in this version, albeit with one (short) flashback occurring close to an hour into the tale. Instead, this version has the audience flying (training?) blind for a while, along with Poirot himself.

For the uninitiated who don't know the ins and outs of this mystery and who have forged ahead in this review despite my warning above, the central conceit of this piece is what might be termed a "locked train" conundrum where a nasty passenger named Ratchett (Johnny Depp, kind of nicely restrained for a change) is found repeatedly stabbed in his (locked) train compartment. While there are a number (perhaps too high a number) of clues pointing to an anonymous stranger who somehow got on the train to commit the murder and then just as quickly disappeared, Poirot begins to unravel a whole series of connections between the other passengers on the train, leading to one of the more ingenious denouements in Christie's oeuvre. It's all played pretty much according to "tradition" here, though Branagh attempts to infuse some new visual acuity to the proceedings by having the train stuck on a perilous bridge, and staging some of the interrogation scenes in snowy outdoor climes.

Some snarky critic (can you imagine?) made the comment years ago about the musical version of Jekyll & Hyde that it was a show that was all about the hair, given the fact the the titular character(s?) expressed his "changes" with a quick refashioning of his coif. In a way, a similar comment could be made with regard to this Murder on the Orient Express, albeit with regard to this film being all about Poirot's iconic mustache, which in this version is almost absurdly baroque, covering not just the detective's upper lip, but extending outward to mask his cheeks. It's a patently bizarre "look" for the character, but one which some supplements on this Blu-ray insist is actually closer to Christie's original formulation than some other, more "trimmed", approaches that other versions have offered. Branagh is certainly okay as the detective, and brings a bit of the same sort of rage that Suchet displayed in the television version of the tale, but my hunch is those who spent decades loving David Suchet's portrayal of this legendary character are probably unavoidably going to find Branagh's take "second best", at best (and maybe even third best, for those who liked Albert Finney in the 1974 version). The large supporting cast is perhaps not quite as starry as the 1974 version, but it provides a number of notable performers (Dame Judi Dench, Michelle Pfeiffer, Penelope Cruz, Willem Dafoe, Derek Jacobi, et al) with some fun moments.

Branagh also doesn't shy away from investing the film with quite a bit of directorial flair. Pay attention to shots like the sequence where Poirot first walks next to the Orient Express, a really impressive (and long) tracking shot that basically introduces all of the main suspects, who are all inside the train. Branagh also doesn't hesitate to offer several overhead (and even under foot) shots.

My hunch is if you've seen (and especially if you loved) the 1974 version of Murder on the Orient Express, you're simply going to go into inevitable "comparison mode" no matter what the blandishments of this extremely handsome and generally well cast outing may be. If you haven't seen a previous version of Murder on the Orient Express, you're probably going to think the film is a good deal more captivating than I may have indicated here. One way or the other, this disc offers superior technical merits and for those and some enjoyable supplements, Murder on the Orient Express comes Recommended.

[CSW] -3.7- Everything about this film was stunning, starting with the cinematography. The sweeping views of the snow-swept mountainous terrain with the fabled Oriental Express racing through it like a toy train, and the heart-stopping scene just before it derails - incredible. The more intimate and slightly claustrophobic scenes aboard the luxury train (beautifully recreated) are equally well done. It gets extra credit just for the eye-candy. The acting is superb even though none of the characters were actually likeable or even very interesting. I liked this version of Poirot who lacked any trace of the effete quality often associated with the fussy detective. Others may not. But taken as a whole this film is entertaining enough for me to say "Get on board - it will be a ride you won't regret."
[V5.0-A5.0] MPEG-4 AVC - No D-Box


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