Good solid whodunnit

Rating: 8/10 (6 November 2017)

6 November 2017 Film of Choice at The Plaza Dorchester Tonight - Murder on The Orient Express. I have never read any Agatha Christie book and I have never seen any Hercule Poirot films or programs, so I came into this film completely blind. I had no knowledge of who was killed, nor of who the killer was. This star-studded production although not edge of the seat viewing was a good solid murder mystery. Directed by Kenneth Branagh, who also took the starring role, and produced by among others, Ridley Scott (of Bladerunner fame) this whodunnit was extremely watchable. Good solid performances were given by everyone including the simply smashing Dame Judi Dench. I always suspect it's hard to give an edge to a new adaptation of something seen and loved before, and equally hard to make such a confined set large enough to bring it to life on the big screen. This was achieved rather well, we all hark back to those days of grand travel in beautiful rolling stock, with waiter service and a decadence long since lost on the modern rail system. That's why these films work, they give us chance to explore our imaginations and enhance our dreams. Watching a recent interview with Branagh on The Graham Norton show, he said they built a whole set for the derailed train, mountain, bridge, tunnel etc and the results were spectacular. I googled the film and looked at how many people were involved in the production and post production and all the different jobs, take a look sometime, it's fascinating and easy to see why film making is such a big industry. Only one criticism, what exactly was that growing on Branagh's face and why did it appear to change colour half way through the film........he seemed to go more grey overnight.