"There is right. There is wrong. There is no in-between."

Rating: 8/10 (11 March 2018)

After solving a theft in Jerusalem, famed Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot, is looking forward to a break before his next case. His friend, Bouc, the director of the Orient Express, convinces him to travel on board his train. Seeing the time on the train as a welcome break from crime-solving, Poirot agrees. The passengers of the grand and luxurious carrier come off as an odd bunch of people travelling together.
Based on Agatha Christie's celebrated crime
mystery novel, the film revolves around the murder of a dubious businessman aboard the luxurious first class compartment of the Orient express. With almost every co-passenger being a suspect, Belgian detective Hercule Poirot's (Kenneth Branagh) sharp deduction skills are put to test once again.
Loaded with mysterious intentions, cheeky humour, clever repartee and an ensemble cast that comprises some of cinema's biggest names, Murder on the Orient Express makes for an intriguing watch. Strangers being stranded on a stalled train makes for a great premise, given the thrill of finding a killer lurking around.
After receiving some threatening letters, Ratchett tries to employ Poirot for his security, but the latter declines. On the same night, as the Orient Express runs aground due to an avalanche, Samuel Ratchett is found stabbed multiple times in the chest and abdomen. With much reluctance, and his friend's insistence, Poirot takes up the investigation. As he gets down to the exhaustive process of interrogation, it is clear that things aren't exactly as they seem.
He maunders on about knife wounds and sleeping potions and missing kimonos. The clues are at once vital, finicky, and dull, and Branagh, perhaps fearful that his tale might be sagging, peps it up with escapades that would have had Christie dropping her teapot. Poirot, who starts by fretting about boiled eggs, finds himself chasing a caped figure along a precarious bridge. He even gets a shot in the arm. The movie could use one, too.
Of the rest of the impressive cast, only Depp as Ratchett and Pfeiffer as Mrs Hubbard make any kind of impression. The film comes closest to giving an insight into its characters when Depp is interacting with Poirot and Hubbard, but since Ratchett is the one to be murdered, that doesn't last long. the snow-capped peaks is so marvellously filmed
On a technical scale, the film scores a perfect ten. The scenes involving the murdered body and the cabin that houses the corpse are shot entirely from above with great ingenuity.
The only con of this movie is the last dialogue which is a bit sentimental but the pros of this movie overshadowed this con.
Murder On The Orient Express pays homage to Agatha Christie's timeless detective story in more ways than one.
It's a must watch.