theater release poster
Movie Review: Murder on the Orient Express, directed by Kenneth Branagh
Four Stars
“If it were easy, I would not be famous.”
Excellent period piece movie. Meticulously staged and photographed. All-star cast. Lots of fun.
“The criminal act is the anomaly. It takes a fractured soul to kill another human being.”
Inevitable comparison with the 1974 version: this one has a bigger pallet. Scenes set in Jerusalem and Istanbul as well as outside the train give the cinematographer a bigger canvas on which he painted with impressionistic color and drama. Branagh makes a better Poirot than Finney, but no one could take those mustaches seriously.
“Romance never goes unpunished.”
Why not five stars? The movie seemed too aware of itself. Bordered on melodrama.
“Did we die?”
As a Matter of Fancy 