27. Murder On the Orient Express (2017)

I can't believe this is the first time I've mentioned Johnny Depp!! I'm clearly not loyal to the actors I love or else I would have done another of his films by now.

I think I have seen this film a total of 3 times now, and every single time I loved it. First time was of course at the cinema, second, after much bugging of my mother, with my family mid-2020 when it finally came on telly, and then the most recent viewing was on New Year's Day.

What was great was that over the Christmas period they were showing the older versions of these movies on BBC 2, with Albert Finney and Peter Ustinov. I liked the fact I was able to compare these to the new version, I use the word 'new' sparingly as 2017 was an age ago, but you know what I mean. 

Back when this movie was all new and all that anyone was talking about, there was this huge hoo-ha about Kenneth Branagh being Poirot, and how his appearance was wrong. As my dad likes to point out every time we force him to watch a Poirot, the Belgian is very much an old woman, Branagh's portrayal is not. He scraps, he hugs, he shares cake, c'est faux! (please excuse my bad French, I am still learning)

I love the Albert Finney version, I also love the Peter Ustinov movies, at least two have my name sake in, the great Lauren Bacall! But from this knowledge comes the power to be able to compare. According to the information my dad somehow discovered, Ms. Christie herself approved the previous version of Murder On the Orient Express, she had originally banned Hollywood from adapting any of her books ever again after they twisted her art to their will and ruined it, but this one was so close to the book she agreed to let them do it and look where we are now! All you have to do is stay true to the creation.

Did the 2017 version stay true to the book? I'm not convinced. Now I am no expert, I can't claim to be as I haven't read the book myself. But what I did notice is that if the 1974 version was very close to the book, then the 2017 version has made some slight changes by removing a character. They had merged Colonel Arbuthnot and the good Dr Constantine so we were one character down. Perhaps the 2017 version is truer than the 1974 version, but we will see, I'll read the book and come back to you.

I actually cannot believe that this is my first Christie review. If you have happened to read any of my stuff previous to this one you will know I've mentioned Miss Marple in *almost* all of my reviews, and yet it only occurred to me now, as I ditched the plan of reviews to be spontaneous, to review one now. I really am slacking.

So as mentioned at the start, I am a relatively big fan of Mr Depp. So baring this in mind I was somewhat upset when I entered the cinema knowing full well who he was playing and what happened to him. Let us just say, he isn't in it for long. Now back in 2017 I did not have the murder mystery/crime bug I do now. I didn't know much about this story and I had vaguely seen the 1974 version but not to remember it enough to know the plot like I did for Death on the Nile. My mum gave me the spoilers when I said I was going to see it, she thought I remembered but no. I'd hoped we would have had flashbacks and he would have been in it more than he was but to no avail. He was damn good playing the villain though, I look forward to Sherlock Holmes 3 if the rumours that Depp is on board as the bad guy are to believed. 

I'll tell ya what I am also looking forward to, Death on the Nile! I don't hold out hope that I'll be back in that red velvet set staring at the screen with a bunch of strangers (god I miss the cinema!) but I am strongly looking forward to the film. Death on the Nile is one of my favourite Poirot stories, we are in Egypt, have a clever plot, a broken hearted woman. Ugh, how they did it was beyond clever. And French and Saunders are in the new version! Those women are my role models. We have gone off track.

All I can say further on Murder on the Orient Express, is that it was a cinematic masterpiece which mixed big Hollywood with the original intent of the books (or close to) and I think it was a success. It was something I had never expected, these crime dramas which dominate daytime telly had come to get me in the cinema, but I loved it! All of the stars in this movie were big names who filled big boots and they did it well. I am proud. Long live the revival of the murder mystery!

So to bring this to a close, I give Murder on the Orient Express a chuffing good 8/10. I lean towards the negative when I say Poirot isn't Poirot, but I enjoyed this version a bit more than I would have. We had such drama in the opening scene when he solved a murder on the get go with such vigor that it reminded me of something Emerson would do in the Amelia Peabody series. That brought a smile to my face. But I would have loved to see how we got there, we got the gist through flashbacks and speculation as he told his theory, but that could have been a good hour episode of Poirot that I would have loved to have seen! Are you listening Hollywood?

Anyway, this movie was comforting in its familiarity with me and it kept your brain working unless you already knew the plot. I would recommend even if it was just for the cast!

Keep safe my loves, keep plodding along and perhaps read or watch something out of your comfort zone, get invested in something new. 2021 may not be as bad as 2020 but we don't know that for sure yet. Get a new hobby, try something out. We all need something to take our minds off the future.