The bones of Christie's mystery are at least good enough to carry this update for the uninitiated

Rating: 7/10 (26 February 2018)

It doesn't take a detective to deduce that this remake/reimagining of Agatha Christie's esteemed novel "Murder on the Orient Express" was about 20th Century Fox trying to overloading a movie poster with big names in hopes of big box office returns. Yet in the hands of Kenneth Branagh, who directs and also stars, the film avoids a complete slide into gussied up, hollow period mystery.
Branagh plays literature's second greatest detective, Hercule Poirot, whom screenwriter Michael Green (who had a huge 2017 with "Logan" and "Blade Runner 2049") wisely treats as the centerpiece of the story. Poirot could simply have fulfilled his functional purpose as the audience's eccentric mystery-solving surrogate, but the film commits to him as a central character, whose journey in some ways supersedes the crime itself.
Hoping for some respite aboard the Orient Express en route from Istanbul to France, Poirot reluctantly becomes chief investigator on a case when a passenger is murdered on the train. He then interrogates the passengers, which include the likes of Judi Dench, Willem Dafoe, Michelle Pfeiffer, Penelope Cruz, Josh Gad, Oliva Colman, Daisy Ridley, Leslie Odom Jr. and more, slowly revealing secrets and deceptions until he cracks the case.
Having neither read Christie's novel nor seen previous film adaptations, I can't comment on how this update compares, but its tried and true bones provide sufficient entertainment. The film relies a little heavily on interrogation scene dialogue and the glee of Poirot spouting off some genius bit of detective work from evidence we hadn't considered, but the twists that clearly made "Orient Express" a classic find a way to work their magic regardless of any changes or tweaks in this version.
That said, Branagh's tone is one of fantasy and heart more than a gritty, claustrophobic thriller. He's more interested in the thematic elements that complicate and layer the truths that Poirot uncovers than crafting a gripping, heart-pounding genre film. Curiosity is the entertainment factor he wields rather than suspense. It's meant to provoke our intellect and our sense of wonder above anything else.
Green's script misfires mostly in regard to the mystery within the mystery, or the backstory that Poirot uncovers which proves to be integral to his solving the case. It doesn't quite make the necessary emotional ties. Yet Green's commitment to playing out Poirot's personal story arc and coloring in who he is with some small details makes up for it. He's a character I certainly wouldn't mind seeing on the screen again.
The actors playing the passengers don't get nearly the same legs to stand on, so most of the flashy names on the marquee are just that, flash. Only "Star Wars" star Daisy Ridley manages to show off some chops in her brief scenes and in a way Gad gets to show he can do more than comedy. All in all, despite each getting one-on-one time with Branagh, there's not much in the way of meaty, dramatic content.
Given my inexperience with this classic mystery story, it's impossible to say whether this version has enough to hold on to for those with greater degrees of familiarity. My instincts say it might be a close call - knowing the truth will surely place more strain on Branagh's interpretation of Pourot. So climb aboard at your own peril if you hold a deep reverence for Christie's novel or Sidney Lumet's 1974 version. Objectively, it's an engaging film suitable for mainstream tastes.
~Steven C
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