An okay movie if you aren't looking for great depth or significance

Rating: 6/10 (2 December 2017)

"Murder on the Orient Express" is a new American 110-minute film from this year (2017) that is directed by Oscar nominee Kenneth Branagh who also plays the main character Hercule Poirot and the entire thing is based on an Agatha Christie novel. This one has seen many versions already, but I personally am not biased here because I have seen neither and I also haven't read the book. The script is by Emmy nominee Michael Green and seeing how much I loved his work on the recent Logan, I must say I am a bit disappointed here. With this cast, a lot more was possible. We have Oscar winners Cruz and Dench, Golden Globe winners Depp and Pfeiffer, rising stars Ridley and Gad and a couple other familiar faces like Dafoe, a personal favorite. The ending suggests a sequel, so it seems Branagh may not yet be done, but is the success here really enough for another? We will see. I am not disappointed by Branagh, but I am also not too impressed by his turn as Poirot. Then again, he is just an observer for the most part as except before the murder, the film is far more about the other passengers than about him.
I liked that, despite the beard, they were not going for a fun or comedy film (there are only very few somewhat funny moments), but for a dark gritty movie that involves more murder than the one happening on the train. Sadly, the investigation itself was hardly convincing. The ways in which finally every passenger has a dark secret and a motive were certainly unrealistic, even if the eventual solution at least explains it a bit. I am not too much of a fan of that one either that basically everybody did it. The (unloaded) gun scene towards the end was as underwhelming and out of place as his final decision to let them all go. But that's just personal preference I guess. The last 40 minutes or so were still very much on the disappointing side for me and also meant that this is definitely not among the best the year has to offer from the crime genre. The film's biggest pro is the visual side. The costumes and sets inside the train as well as the cinematography and surroundings outside were really just as good as it gets, so I would not be too surprised if the film gets in once or twice at the Oscars.
Overall, it was an okay watch that had many weaknesses though that move the movie closer to forgettable terrain than very good terrain. A bit of a shame as this could/should have been much better. Then again, some flaws may already be inside the original literary work I guess like the (to me) unsatisfying ending. It was still good enough to be somewhat curious about a possible sequel in Egypt and I'd probably watch it if they really make it. However, I am certainly not too enthusiastic about it. Back to this one here: The one area where the film makes no impact or references at all is the time component, nothing about politics or society from the indeed interesting time when the film is set. As a whole, this is a decent whodunit film that may have you guessing for the most part who the killer is and if you pay close attention to the exact way in which Depp's character was killed and the number of stabbing wounds, then maybe you have the right idea early on already, even if you perhaps (like myself) will lose the idea pretty quickly thinking it's too absurd. Sadly, it is not. A cautious thumbs-up from me. Go see it, but keep your expectations down.