Murder on the Orient Express

“The murderer is taunting me. Ok. His first mistake!" How I would like to not know how it is going to turn out, I thought from start to finish, because if Murder on the Orient Express offered me that detective mystery, it would be even better. But of course, this is not the fault of the film, which is perfect in almost every aspect. Understandably, Poirot (in Branagh's superbly moderate and sensitive performance, with a mustache like from Hogwarts) is the focal point of the plot, but the other characters are certainly not forgotten, the design is digital, but beautiful, and when emotions are supposed to happen, they happen, and it doesn't matter if you know the book or not. Perhaps only Poirot's recollection of Katherine (from The Mystery of the Blue Train) seemed excessive to me and I didn't like the final stumbling block too much, which suggests that the sequel will take place “on the damn Nile". (13/11/2017)

Overwrought and overly lavish crime drama in the hands of a first-class connoisseur, aesthete, pedant and lover of classic literary subjects all in one. That it doesn’t work very well as a whole? That is true and that is what it looks like. Not that Branagh isn't good in front of the camera, on the contrary, he is the best of the lot, but he is also the only watchable thing, unless you count the impressive camera sequences of Istanbul and the mountain heights, but you can put on Discovery Channel for that, and you will spare yourself the disappointment of unfulfilled expectations of a quality and solid detective story. (15/02/2018)

The attempt to combine the most classical of classic detective stories with modern filmmaking techniques is commendable, but not quite effective. I appreciate Branagh's clear vision, his courage to come up with his own ideas, and his absolute commitment to the story and the main character, but the result lacks a single memorable passage, and, especially in the second half, it hits a monotonous, old-fashioned note that doesn't fit well with his intentions to make an energetic version of the case of the level-headed intellectual. It's very pretty to look at and the stellar cast is a delight, but it's still more predictable and less cool than would be ideal. (30/04/2018)

Although the original by Agatha Christie is a perfect detective story that will be relevant even in a hundred years, giving this movie a five-star load is unfortunately almost impossible. The story is amazing, the adaptation and the camera work are very imaginative, CGI is surprisingly okay, but Kenneth Branagh decided to approach the movie on such a massive scale that not only did he drag a bunch of fantastic actors on board, but he also turned the Balkans into the Italian Dolomites. On top of that, the resolution didn’t sit well with me. Even though I knew what would happen. The Last Supper style also culminated acting-wise and some characters turned into caricatures of themselves thanks to their theatrically expressive performance and I was a little sorry about that. Overall a good movie but it can thank the source material for that. (18/02/2018)

I love the old version with Albert Finney, but the new one by Kenneth Branagh certainly doesn't disgrace it. However, the director and the main actor in one person decided – quite logically and, I think, rightly – not to try to make any fundamental statement against it or the source material. So although the trailers try to suggest that we're going to see some brisker pacing and maybe even some action, it's still the right kind of Poirot dialogue. And just like the film's classics, it stands on its excellent cast, great performances, dialogue and of course how perfectly thought out the whole thing is. Branagh treats the book with reverence, but at the same time doesn't shy away from a more modern and clever use of cinematography and excellent music work. And the result is the most honest whodunit I could have imagined given the source material. It goes exactly as it should. (27/07/2018)