Glamorous ensemble casts coupled with equally
glamorous settings made the film versions of Agatha Christie's Hercules Poirot mysteries a staple of the late seventies and early eighties.
Considering the effectiveness of the formula it is surprising to think that 31
years has passed since Peter Ustinov donned a ridiculous moustache and taxed
the little grey cells for an audience's pleasure.
Kenneth Branagh's
welcome remake of the Murder of the Orient Express has no less of a stellar
cast, we are treated to a who's who of modern cinema, with representatives from
every generation from Daisy Ridley through to Derek Jacobi and Judi Dench, with Willem
Defoe, Johnny Depp and Michelle Pfeiffer in between. Brannagh does a fantastic job
of portraying Poirot, although in a cinematic first he very nearly gets upstaged by his own
ludicrous moustache. True to form the glamour of the
cast is matched only by the glamour of their surroundings, the eponymous train
harks back to a lost age of travel, one that perhaps may never have really existed but nevertheless provides wonderful escapism for anyone who has been on Southern Trains.
If you like murder
mysteries then this is a great addition to the genre, Brannagh keeps it pacy
and some of the cinematography is stunning. The performances are uniformly
great, but the sheer size of the cast means that screen time is limited, and therefore
character development is also unfortunately shallow. Which is a shame because at times it feels that with more time there were some tremendous performances lurking.
The plot itself is classic murder mystery fayre, entertaining from start to finish although with the caveat that Agatha Christie doesn't really have a great deal to say
outside of the intricacies of the mystery itself. If you are hoping for something
deep and thematic look elsewhere, but if you want a classic who dunnit then this film will not be a disappointment.
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