Good day my friends! You waited for it! and now you got it! Yes it is that time of the week for one of my special movie reviews for you all. I have to admit besides Tuesday night which of course is movie night for me. But this has become my other favourite day of the week, the day when I get to give you a fresh movie review. All day long while at my day job I think about what I am going to write for you all. Working out how I want to start my blog off for my latest post and what I want rating I am going to give the movie along with what I liked and didn’t like about it. Someone asked me one time, “ Justin, how do you stay motivated to do this after a long day at work? I wouldn’t be able to do that! At the end of the work day I just want to go home and put my feet up and relax” That question is easy for me! It is my pure love for the movies and the people who read my blog on a weekly basis to catch my latest review. There are lots of things in life that drive us to be able to do the things we do. It can anger, love, to prove a point or someone wrong. But whatever it is, if it leads to doing something positive where no one gets hurt and helps you grow as a person. Than the fire to accomplish something great will always be there to lead you on to find your truth. This week my passion lead me to the remake of the 1978 movie Murder On The Orient Express based on the book by Agatha Christie. This version is directed by Kenneth Branagh(Valkyrie) and puts himself in the lead role of Detective Hercule Poirot. The movie boasts quite the impressive cast list as well which include Penelope Cruz(Blow) as Pilar Estarvados, Willem Dafoe( Spiderman) as Gerhard Hardman, Judy Dench(Skyfall) as Princes Dragomiroff,Johnny Depp(Pirates Of The Caribbean Franchise) as Edward Ratchett, Derek Jacobi(Gladiator) as Edward Henry Masterman,Josh Gad(Beauty And The Beast) as Hector MacQueen, Olivia Colman( The Iron Lady) as Hildegarde Schmidt, Daisy Ridley(Star Wars: The Force Awakens) as Miss Mary Debenham and Michelle Pfeiffer( Scarface) as Caroline Hubbard. So let us take a trip on the famed train back in time to see if this remake is as good as the original.
In the world of crime solving there is no one better than Hercule Poirot(Branagh), he is known world wide for his super sleuthing abilities and solving cases that seem impossible to solve. After solving his latest case which took hi to Jerusalem, he decides to take a much needed vacation. But his vacation is cut short when he is need back in London for a case so with the help of a friend who also manages the train of he is given a cabin on the Orient Express. On board he meets other passengers who are in 1st class like him. An interesting assortment of people with one of them being Edward Ratchett(Depp) an American man with a criminal past who has the suspicion that his life is in danger from threatening letters that he has been receiving. He wants Poirot to work for him to protect his life until his business in Europe is complete. Poirot declines bluntly yet politely. Later that night as the train passes through the mountains a storm rages on and causes an avalanche trapping the train until help can arrive. But what’s worse is that Ratchett’s suspicions were right as his lifeless body is discovered in his cabin stabbed multiple times. With some coaxing from his friend Poirot takes the case to find out who committed the murder. With the clues led behind at the murder scene Poirot goes and questions each of the passengers in that cabin car. With each interview he gets closer to the truth and the murderer. But what he discovers is that each one of the passengers has a secret connection with an old case of child abduction that ended in murder and that the murder victim on the train was the man who had done that but changed his name. This was a case that troubled Poirot as the father of the missing child had sent him a letter asking him to help find his daughter, but he got the letter too late. So with each person on board having a motive to kill and the train dug out of the snow, the detective must solve this case to see who did it before they are on their way and a killer gets away.
So I have to say that with the case of this movie i didn’t have overly high expectations on what I was going to see when I saw this movie. Because a lot of the time a remake is never as great as the original. But I guess every so often each generation or two needs to put their stamp on a movie they liked. That being said there are movies too that shouldn’t be redone. This was not one of those! While the trailers looked interesting when I saw them, the film was exactly what i expected it to be. And that was decent, it was a decently made movie. The script was good, it started out fine, than introduced us to the cast of characters which slowed it down a tad but than started to pick up as the movie progressed. There were some decent performances, not completely over the top oscar worthy ones, but enjoyable ones for the most part. There was a nice mix of light humour thrown into this movie which kind of helped lighten the tone. Not what most would expect from a murder mystery movie, but it worked and got some laughs.That being said I do feel that while Branaghs portrayal of the lead character Poirot was fine I still would have maybe chosen someone else for the role. Johnny Depp did a good job in his limited role of a creepy and despicable character making you actually glad that he was killed. All in all a decent movie and money well spent in my opinion. I was entertained here the movie had a nice old time feeling to it which I liked. I am giving this movie a 7.0 on The Justin Scale Of Movies which just puts it on my list of movies to see in the theatre this month. And that’s a warp here my friends on my latest movie review. Until next time keep the popcorn freshly popped and save me a good seat because I will see you next time at the movies!
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