Murder on the Orient Express

Summary: A good movie, worth seeing at least once in theaters. Maybe rent it on Blu-Ray. It was done well, but not what I would consider the most outstanding movie.

Going in: I tried very hard to avoid any reference to this movie or the book, which I had not read. I figured it would be decent, but not one of my top ones. I saw the trailers and I did see one non-spoiler review from Screen Junkies (I saved another one for later). I think I did remember how it ended but I resolved not to find out.

Popcorn Value: 6/10. I'm not drawn to seeing it again but might only if my wife wants to (she's a fan of the book). I'll probably rent it at least once. I enjoyed the opening sequence a great deal and if there had been more of that, I think it would be different. I'm not sure if that's a movie problem or a source material problem.

Art Value: 7/10. There's a lot of clear value and talent here. I think it was just hard to do the characters justice with the number of characters and the time frame given.

Acting: 3/3. Loved the acting. Branagh plays wonderfully but again, I have no ties to the book so I have no idea if this was faithful. Daisy Ridley was a delight as well as Willem Defoe, Judi Dench, and Michelle Pfieffer. Josh Gad continues to impress (I saw him in Marshall).

Cinematography: 2/2. Just some absolutely beautiful shots. Some were CGI but they were still beautifully done. The CGI actually pulled me in more even though I knew it was CGI.

Art Department: 2/2. This was done as a period piece and the costuming, hair, and makeup were just gorgeous.

Music: 1/2. The music didn't distract from the movie, but it really didn't add to it either.

Editing: 0/2. Some of the editing took me out of the movie - in particular, when they went from a wide shot to a medium shot and back to a wide. Too jarring.

Story: 3/4. There was a lot going on here. There was a more subtle theme about the black and white-ness of justice. It's not talked about until the very end, but looking back, I can see it alluded to in that the protagonist keeps finding lies and you see his frustration and inability to understand it. However, there were *a lot* of characters and so not much could be done other than focus on the protagonist.

Directing: 2/3. I think they could have and probably wanted to do more. I'm wondering if this might've been better as a TV mini-series. It's a hard call, but I still they did well for what they had. Some of the shot choices were interesting but seemed a little disconnected.

Producing: 1/2. As said before, this was not the greatest material for a 2-hour movie. But, they took on the risk and I think did well. My showing was a Sunday matinee and I got the last seat. So, it was packed, even for a 2D-digital.