One thing that you won’t find here on the blog is topics/things that I don’t like to talk about, either if it’s bad or good. If I have something to say I probably will make a post about it. So when a book or a movie excites me I want to make a review because I need to talk. You already know by the title that I saw Murder on the Orient Express and I wasn’t this excited/thrilled/pumped to see a movie in a long time. I had super very high (of the roof) expectations for this movie. I never read any of Agatha Christie’s novels – which I no longer can say – but I watched the ITV Miss Marple series and it changed my life. The unique kind of way telling mystery stories made me fall in love with the author and his creations.

I was a little bit afraid of over expectations. Sometimes we so deeply want that movie or book to reach that point and more often than not it doesn’t. I would like to say this wasn’t the case. It leaves me sad to agree with most people that the movie should have been more. I was excited to watch this movie even before I knew all the cast members. So while for some people maybe was the outstanding cast that makes them bet on a great movie, for me was Agatha Christie. As I said above she changed how I see murder mysteries and that special treat that she has was present in this story. Although it wasn’t as well shown as I was expecting.

One important detail you have to know about Christie’s mysteries is the fact that you get to know every detail that helps Poirot – or Miss Marple or (I believe) any other character – to discover the killer. For a change you don’t just sit back and see the characters walking around cracking the case, you can piece things yourself mostly because she doesn’t hide information from you. And that was what I was the most excited about, having a movie where I could pick from the characters’ behaviour, expressions, and other things little hints of who might be the murderer, is my jam. Although I got confused. Knowing the characters and Poirot investigating, it didn’t leave any space for thinking. So I was just being a viewer. My job wasn’t to understand what Poirot was finding or what the characters were saying but seeing everything happening in front of my eyes. This is what usually happens with most mysteries although this is an Agatha Christie story and I was expecting more time and space to let the audience be puzzled by the story.

Actually, I need to tell you that reading the book before watching the movie was the best and the worst thing I did. The best since it’s a great story, and the worst because I kept comparing everything. The best parts of the movie were for sure the beginning and the revelation of the killer. Even though, I knew how it was going to end they still manage to give it a little twist and surprise everybody. While the beginning was something completely new and the humour of Poirot which made me giggle a couple of times was refreshing and promising. I only wish they kept a little more of that for the end.

For sure one of the biggest problems in this movie was the high speed at which everything happened and how the clues were showing up. Let’s take a step back and think for a bit. The story focuses on a murder that happened while on the train although, they kept rushing from one clue to another without leaving any time to think or breathe. I appreciated some of the scenes outside of the book’ storyline which were actually the only ones that took their time, but the rest was just jumping from scene to scene. While in the beginning and in the end when the murder is already solved they take unnecessary time with details that don’t have anything important to the story.

I almost wish the movie to be more than 1 hour and 40 minutes long until I remember that every episode of Miss Marple, from the ITV series, was 1 hour and 30 minutes and yet they managed to keep the story rolling and not rushing. So it’s possible to contain the story in 90 minutes. I wouldn’t mind if they hide or change some of the clues in order to make the movie more slow speed. Since the body is found until Poirot discovers the truth, the entire movie is a big blur for me. I can’t remember much because everything happened so fast.

Bottom line, this movie had everything to be one of the best of this year. The great cast, the story, the setting, and the hype around the name, yet it didn’t match the expectations. Now I wish another remake was made that could redeem this movie and this story.