'Murder on the Orient Express' Is Delightful, but It Made Me Crave for Something Original and Surprising

Murder on the Orient Express is a mystery film directed by Kenneth Branagh.  He also plays the main character Hercule Poirot, an obsessive compulsive but brilliant Belgian detective.  Set in 1934, the film follows Poirot, whose vacation in Istanbul is interrupted by a summon to London regarding a new case.  His friend Bouc (Tom Bateman), learning of his need to get to London, offers him a room on the luxurious Orient Express, of which he’s the director.  However, after an avalanche derails the train, one of the passengers, businessman Samuel Ratchett (Johnny Depp), is found dead in his room, having been stabbed a dozen times.  Thus, the colorful passengers and staff of the train (Daisy Ridley, Willem Dafoe, Penélope Cruz, Judi Dench, Michelle Pfeiffer, Josh Gad, Derek Jacobi, Leslie Odom Jr., Olivia Coleman, Lucy Boynton, Marwan Kenzari, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, and Sergei Polunin) become suspects to a murder mystery that Poirot is asked to solve before the train resumes its journey.

The star power of the cast is probably the most apparent impressive aspect of this film.  The performances, especially Branagh’s take on Poirot, are riveting.  As a result, eyeballs are definitely glued on the screen.  In addition, this is also kept that way by the excellent production value and stylish production design.

I love whodunit period dramas, and Hercule Poirot is one of my all-time favorite fictional detectives.  Thus, I found Murder on the Orient Express to be quite a delight.  The execution is suspenseful and compelling.  However, the plot essentially plays out in the same manner as the source material.  Thus, having read the novel by Agatha Christie, as well as having seen the original 1974 film adaptation, I was no longer surprised by its big reveals, which lessened the narrative’s inherent thrills for me.

At the end of the movie, a sequel is teased.  Now, I would eagerly welcome more Hercule Poirot adventures from Branagh.  But, next time, I wish to have the pleasure of being surprised as well.  Thus, I prefer if the next films are original stories or, if not, adaptations of books that I haven’t read yet, or of books that haven’t been adapted on screen yet.  For if the sequel is going to be Death on the Nile – which is all but certain – it’s just another Poirot story that I’m already familiar with (haven’t read the book, but I’ve seen the 1978 movie).  Unless, the filmmakers make the plot entirely different from its source material – I would be also fine with that.

Overall, I enjoyed Murder on the Orient Express.  But I would have been more significantly pleased if I had the luxury of the unknown with its plot.