Reviewed by Victor Rebikoff.
Director: Kenneth Branagh, 20th Century Fox, M 140 Minutes.
There have been many movie remakes but in the case of Agatha Christie’s timeless classic Murder on the Orient Express, Kenneth Branagh’s sumptuous version is considered far superior due to its visually-striking production and an impressive cast of assembled actors.
Besides his directing responsibilities, Branagh portrays the world-famous Belgian detective Hercule Poirot.
Poirot boards a train in Istanbul with fourteen strangers and later discovers that one of them was murdered prior to an avalanche of snow hitting the tracks and halting the train.
Amongst the strangers are a Doctor Arbuthnot (Leslie Odom – ‘Harriet’), a governess Miss Mary Debenham (Daisy Ridley – ‘Star Wars:The Force Awakens’), a missionary Pilar Estravados (Penelope Cruz – ‘Loving Pablo’), an assistant Hector MacQueen (Josh Gad – ‘Little Monsters’), there is Princess Dragomiroff (Judy Dench – ‘Philomena’), the valet Edward Masterman (Derek Jacobi – ‘Tomb Raider’) the widow Caroline Hubbard (Michelle Pfeiffer – ‘Mother’), con artist Gerhard Hardman (Willem Dafoe – ‘Great Wall’) and the notorius gangster Edward Ratchett (Johnny Depp – ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’).
It is now left to Poirot the distinguished detective, with his signature large moustache, to determine which of the stranded passengers could be the likely suspect through a meticulous investigation.
On connecting the murder to a past crime Poirot is able to solve the present murder mystery, the perceptive sleuth must still come to grips with his moral conscience and decide if justice has truly been served.
It may be challenging to avoid making a comparison with the 1974 movie from master director Sidney Lumet and his all-star cast that included such luminaries as Lauren Bacall, Ingrid Bergman, Sean Connery and Richard Widmark.
However, it has to be said that Branagh’s lavish production is far more enjoyable than the original which is matched by an equally entertaining cast set amongst some stunning settings including the snowy landscapes of a European terrain.
Once again Branagh has demonstrated his considerable skills as a fine filmmaker along with his perfectly-pitched performance as Poirot in his rendering of ‘Murder on the Orient Express’ which is considerably more appealing than that of Finney.
Finally it is interesting to see in the concluding scenes that Branagh will be returning as the world’s celebrated detective in a remake of another Christie classic in ‘Death on the Nile’.
Murder on the Orient Express is being televised on Channel 7flix at 9.10pm on Friday 13 November
Vic’s Verdict: 4 Stars
