I'd have seen Happy Death Day if I had the chance, but, despite only being in its second week, there was one showing of the film, and conveniently, I worked overtime, so that was out. Instead we saw I film I've been looking forward to for a while, Murder on the Orient Express, and to my surprise, our Friday night screening was packed, even more surprising, it was full of old people, which makes me happy for some reason. As does the fact that my Dad slept through half of the film, muppet.
Murder on the Orient Express has a very interesting opening, since it takes an amazingly long time to actually get the Murder, or even the Orient Express, instead we see Poirot solving the crime of a stolen Jem, before making social in Istanbul, allowing us to meet a few of our murder suspects. Don't get me wrong, I liked seeing Poirot just doing his thing, seeing him obsess over the perfection of bread is amusing, and seeing his hard honesty and masterful deduction skills at work is pretty funny at times, like a less mysophobic and more French Monk with a mustache. The film relies a lot more on Poirot's personality than it does his character, we learn that he once had a woman in his life, but that's all we know, but we do know is that he has a very particular way of looking at the world, he's a perfectionist that sees the flaws in literally everything, it makes him a great detective, but near the beginning of the film he has a great line about how this effects his life negatively, it isn't something the film dwells on, but it's intriguing nonetheless. And on a silly note, that's one hell of a mustache, there's one scene in particular with that mustache that is just incredible, the film isn't a straight up comedy, far from it, but it does have levity, which is very beneficial, since if it didn't, that mustache would the most distracting thing in the film. Instead the most distracting thing in the film is Daisy Ridley, yup, Rey from Star Wars is in this film, and I think I've got a new celebrity crush, Daisy Ridley is one good looking woman, and you know me, I'd rarely speak ill of a good looking woman. If this film was full of nobodies, her and Kenneth Branagh would probably have stolen the show, but no, this film's cast is ridiculous; Branagh, Ridley, Willem Dafoe, Johnny Depp, Judie Dench, Penelope Cruz, Derek Jacobi, Olivia Coleman, Josh Gad, this is a really high profile cast, probably cost a lot of money to get all this talent, and such talent is massively useful to a murder mystery like this, something you'd know if you've ever played L.A. Noire, poor use of the material in a murder mystery does not a good film make, nor does poor material, but Murder on the Orient Express already has that covered. As the mystery unfolded, I did find myself genuinely intrigued by it, I wanted to know all the answers, I wanted to know the killer's identity, and by the end I was satisfied by the mystery, and you know what, if this film gets a sequel, I'd be happy to see that, I really came to like Poirot by the end of the film, as the mystery challenges his perception of morality.
Now, for anyone who might want to watch this film, which I think many people should, you need to know that this is a slow film. It takes a surprisingly long time for Poirot to even board the train, and then a surprisingly long amount of time for the murder to take place, and from that point the film is Poirot interviewing the passengers and sniffing out clues. This is a gorgeous movie, and it's an intriguing movie, but even I'll admit, it's not an exciting one. I, personally, am fine with that, because I ended up invested in the mystery, but like I said at the beginning, my dad fell asleep, I reckon the couple I work with who hated Blade Runner would also hate this. The film doesn't have action, literally, none, the most eventful thing in the film is Poirot taking on one of his fellow passengers towards the end of the film, but this is a murder mystery, so there is no climactic ending, Poirot simply gets off the train having solved the mystery and feeling justice has been dealt. It's not even fair to compare this to modern popular crime thrillers like BBC's Sherlock, which was both more comedic and more action packed, especially as that show ran and its overall quality worsened, digression aside, this isn't a modernized revitalisation of Agatha Christie's novel, as BBC's Sherlock or even Guy Richie's Sherlock Holmes films are for Arthur Conan Doyle's work, Murder on the Orient Express doesn't try to be something the novel isn't, and props to that, boring or not. But one aspect of this film that isn't boring, and something I alluded to earlier, this film is gorgeous, Kenneth Branagh directed this film, with Haris Zambarloukos on cinematography, and it looks incredible; the landscape shots of the train are gorgeous, but what's awesome is how interestingly they can film the inside of a train carriage, there are a few shots and angles I wouldn't even think to use, and they work brilliantly, and despite the majority of the film taking place in the same, relatively small environment of the train, the setting never gets boring, and the film makes very effective use of what visual effects it has, which isn't many. Really I'm surprised by how much this film must have cost to make, this story could easily have been told in a TV movie, but instead it's a major production with Ridley Scott's name on it and a huge cast of really well known actors, though it doesn't give me hope for a possible franchise, as with the already stated slow pace and lack of action, I don't see this film being as successful as it would need to be for us to see more Poirot.
I was cautious about this film, the trailer had me really excited, but I know not to get my hopes that high unless it's Star Wars, and for the most part, I was happy with Murder on the Orient Express. Its cast boggles the mind, it's visually stunning, and its mystery is gripping. Poirot is great, once you get past that impregnable mustache, and the film's list of suspects all do their job in ensuring this mystery gets its necessary twists and turns, the mystery itself is good, and while the ending may be anticlimactic for some, the emotional payoff is satisfying enough once you have all the pieces. That is something I doubt will be beneficial to the film when pulling in a big audience, since this isn't an exciting or intense film, it's a very investigatory film, and I for one really enjoyed it. I'd recommend Murder on the Orient Express to anyone looking for a good murder mystery, it's definitely worth watching.
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