Murder on the Orient Express

I am a great fan of Agatha Christie in general and Hercule Poirot in particular. When yet another remake of Murder on the Orient express came out I was somewhat hesitant. After all, the one with David Suchet was perfect.

I guess I was right to be hesitant. This is another one of those remakes where you just wonderwhy? As a movie it is not too bad but as a Hercule Poirot movie, the classical Murder on the Orient Express no less, it is like buying a piece of prime filet of beef and discovering that the butcher gave you chicken drums when you open the package. Edible but not at all what you paid for.

To me this movie was a blatant attempt to make an Americanized version of Hercule Poirot. It was poorly done by a clueless scriptwriter and...

I have always loved this story and was looking forward to seeing this adaptation but afraid it was going to be Branagh'd, especially when finding out he was playing Poirot himself and cast Johnny Depp as Ratchett.

When a director wants to put their own stamp on something, they usually screw it up. Branagh dipped both of his shoes in poop (symmetrical, yes?) before stamping Christie's work. Let the story take the film where it needs to be. CGI is not where it wants to be. There's nothing wrong with a dialogue-heavy movie no matter what the studio thinks.

Casting Grade: D

• When I heard Depp was going to be in it, I assumed he'd be Poirot and Branagh as Ratchet. Depp would have been a terrible choice too but would have made more sen...

Beginning with Kenneth Branagh's second decade as a filmmaker, I suggest he became an industry workhorse. He acted in many films and directed several, all with varying results in quality. Most pointedly, few felt like they were personal projects for 15 years. For example, his direction of THOR is at the pleasure of Kevin Feige, the head of Marvel Films. I argue that MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS is personal. I believe that the "Shakespeare" guy believed he could create the "Agatha Christie" equivalent of the Marvel Universe. As of this writing, he has returned a second film, DEATH ON THE NILE. There are at least 30 more Hercule Poirot novels remaining for potential sequels. Likely, we won't see a third unless the second proves...

An effort worthy of merit, but which did not result in a really good work.

Kenneth Branagh is one of those actors/directors who doesn't seem to be afraid of a challenge, and I respect him for that, even if his choices aren't always the wisest. Bringing the greatest book of Agatha Christie's work to the cinema is a considerable challenge, not only given the richness of the material and characters, but also taking into account the relevance of the work and the admirers who remain faithful to the author's books (I am one of them). I can't help but say: for me, she is one of the greatest writers of the 20th century. She not only helped to cement the police narrative, but also substantively developed it. Therefore, I must absolutely conde...