A star-studded cast in “Murder on the Orient Express” take on a timeless murder mystery.
Credit: @MOTOEmovie
When purchasing a movie ticket to “Murder on the Orient Express,” viewers board the train for an hour and fifty-four minutes of mystery and crime.
The movie “Murder on the Orient Express” is based on the beloved 1934 Agatha Christie novel by the same name. It is the third adaptation of the novel made as it follows Hercule Poirot, a world-renowned detective who travels the world solving cases others deem nearly impossible to solve.
The movie opens with Detective Hercule Poirot (Kenneth Branagh) in Jerusalem, solving the crime of a stolen religious artifact. After he solves the case, in a very comedic fashion, he boards a ferry to Istanbul, hoping to take a needed vacation. On the boat, he meets two future passengers of the Orient Express, Dr. Arbuthnot (Leslie Odom Jr.) and Miss Mary Debenham (Daisy Ridley). Poirot learns a little about the two characters, but part ways, not expecting to see them again.
In Istanbul, as Poirot is inspecting an array of pies, Wolfgang Bouc (Tom Bateman) enters, and the characters catch up, as they had known each other previously. Bouc insists on Poirot taking a trip on his train the Orient Express. At first, Poirot declines, but when news arrives that he has a murder to solve back at home, he accepts.
On the train, Poirot meets the rest of the first-class travelers: the salesman Biniamino Marquez (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo), the missionary Pilar Estravados (Penelope Cruz), the princess Dragomiroff (Judi Dench), the princess’s maid Hildegarde Schmidt (Olivia Colman), the professor Gerhard Hardman (Williem Dafoe), the countess Elena Andrenyi (Lucy Boynton), the count Rudolph Andrenyi (Sergei Polunin), the widow Caroline Hubbard (Michelle Pfeiffer), an assistant Hector MacQueen (Josh Gad), Ratchett’s butler Edward Henry Masterman (Derek Jacobi), and the murdered businessman Edward Ratchett (Johnny Depp).
The train ride was supposed to be three days, but during the night, an avalanche occurred, derailing the train. Right before this mayhem, Edward Ratchett was murdered by twelve erratic stab wounds. Detective Poirot doesn’t want to be involved but is soon convinced to find the murderer before the train is re-railed to continue to its destination.
This movie stays true to the book in many ways but diverges in other ways. Like the book, Branagh plays Detective Poirot as the comedic and intelligent man he is. Branagh also has the ridiculous mustache that Agatha Christie would have been proud of if she were still around.
However, some of the characters from the book received name changes and race changes, as if to give the characters more diversity. Penelope Cruz’s character was originally of Swedish descent. Manuel Garcia-Rulfo’s character was initially Italian. Leslie Odom Jr.’s character was originally a colonel in the army but is portrayed as a doctor as well, combining two characters from the book into one aiding in furthering the plot.
The characters are very stereotypical in their expressions and development. The missionary remains religious, and the princess remains high and mighty. Information is revealed about each slowly, and by the end, we do get to know the characters and why they all boarded the Orient Express. The stereotypical ideas made it easy for the watcher to try to solve the case along with Poirot, but Branagh (who also directed the movie) makes it so when viewers think they know the answer, their guess gets halted in its tracks.
The finale was, for the most part, kept faithful to the book regarding who had committed the murder. Branagh took some liberties; however, that made for a refreshing change. The book has the outcome take place in the dining car of the train, keeping it enclosed. Branagh took the verdict outside in the snow, making the characters uncomfortable in the weather as Poirot confronted them. Branagh also made Poirot face the murderer in a refreshing way other adaptations didn’t, making his decisions all the more emotional.
Overall, Branagh created a pretty faithful adaptation for Agatha Christie fans but added a flair that made the story real, adventurous, and enjoyable for those who have never encountered Christie’s books.
Murder on the Orient Express is a movie worth boarding over and over for.
