“Murder on the Orient Express” Review

“Murder on the Orient Express” is a crime thriller based on the novel of the same title by Agatha Christie. At one hour and 54 minutes, the movie is packed with enough suspense and twists to entertain until the murderer is revealed.

Starting with an introduction to the main protagonist, the famous detective Hercule Poirot, the movie works to show the prowess of the detective instead of simply saying that he is good at what he does. The introduction also demonstrates the quirks that make Poirot such a good detective.

Poirot soon makes his way onto the Orient Express train to begin his journey home. The train itself is a wonderful set piece, full of the luxury that would be expected of the high class occupants it contains. From the crystal wine glasses to the polished countertops, everything shines like it has been polished countless times.

The cinematography was well done. Many of the shots were filled with interesting details. The shots that stood out as below the others in quality were the fight scenes and the establishing shots of the train. The fights were heavily edited, so it was often difficult to tell what was happening. The establishing shots had an obviously computer generated train. This took attention away from the scene as a whole and focused on the train.

Overall, “Murder on the Orient Express” was a fun and engaging movie. The ending offered an interesting question for the audience to ponder. However, it felt like the ending was the easy way out for the story. Aside from that, the movie was a fun ride from start to finish. This movie earns an 87 out of 100.