An all style production that quickly runs out of steam

Rating: 5/10 (13 November 2017)

'Murder on the Orient Express' is the latest addition to the ever growing 'style over substance' club. A film that is beautiful to watch, with no shortage of stunning mountainous scenery, but beyond the surface, it lacks much of what is expected from a whodunnit mystery thriller. If anything, the visuals work to the film's disadvantage. Cutting away to a shot of snow capped mountains in between scenes doesn't exactly help to build and hold any sort of tension.
The pacing is also too slow for my liking, with the murder and subsequent whodunnit mystery taking too long to arrive. Even as the mystery starts to unfold, there's a lingering feeling that the film is cruising along and never really gets up to speed. For production value, 'Murder on the Orient Express' is excellent, but visuals aren't enough for a film like this, especially when you consider the material they were working with.