I have never read a single Agatha Christie book, nor could I recall having seen a single movie or T.V. show based on her work until I started doing supplementary research on this movie (call me unenlightened). This is a shocking statement, I know, but it gave me the advantage of reviewing this film tabula rasa, unencumbered by preconceived notions or expectations from the books or previous adaptations. My resulting enlightenment resonated with the sentiment, “Meh…not bad.” The story follows one Hercule Poirot, a world-famous detective who is well into his career and now looking for some rest and relaxation. Despite Poirot’s best efforts, he becomes embroiled in perhaps his most difficult case yet, confined to the snowbound Orient Express.

In this film, Kenneth Branagh serves as producer, director, and star as Christie’s famous detective protagonist. The movie was shot on real film stock and looks gorgeous. The colors are all distinct and vibrant, but I can’t help but feel that, like Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight (also shot on 65mm film), the extra production effort and expense is wasted since most of the movie takes place inside the cars of a train. The film struggles to keep up the tension because the passengers are snowbound on the Orient Express and it really seems like Poirot has all the time in the world to figure out the case rather than work under the artificial ticking clock imposed by the film. Additionally, the pacing is off, and the film occasionally tries to keep interest through a chase scene or violent outburst in an attempt at classic misdirection, but really this is a dialogue-heavy plot that elicits its audiences’ entertainment by inviting viewers to solve the mystery themselves while Poirot teases out hints and clues.