MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS: KENNETH BRANAGH INVITES YOU TO A NEW PARTY OF ACTORS [REVIEW]
The former Hamlet directs and interprets the new adaptation of Agatha Christie's yellow, now in theaters
A big party of actors. We could define so many of the films made by Kenneth Branagh . And perhaps, this Assassination on the Orient Express is the biggest party since the days of Hamlet (1996), since it is also celebrated his return to the forefront as a protagonist who heads himself (he had already done a few years ago in the unfortunate Jack Ryan - Initiation , where however reserved the role of support of the villain, with a lot of Russian accent).
It is a pleasure to see this leader in front of and behind the camera, while bringing to life an iconic character like Hercule Poirot , accentuating some peculiarities of the brilliant detective released by the pen of Agatha Christie . One out of all the obsessive-compulsive craze that we discover since the first minutes of the film. The scenes in which we see him amused while reading Charles Dickens are among the most compelling of adaptation.
Every hired actor is perfectly at home in his role, starting with Johnny Depp who finally puts his charm at the service of a disgusting character, free as the evil-hearted gangster. A Judi Denchinstead, it takes only two bars to make it clear who really commands in this cast. Willem Dafoe should win the imaginary Nobel Prize awarded to the best chameleon in history. And finding Michelle Pfeiffer , on the other hand, makes us want to re-explore her previous filmography and cancel the distance between the moment when she practically disappeared from the scenes at the beginning of the new millennium and the recent one in which she returned.
The first hour of this Orient Express flows like the train we see in the film: fast on the tracks of the big entertainment cinema. Here we are then in Jerusalem. And then on the sea that bathes Istanbul, illuminated by the sun and overwhelmed by many digital special effects to which Branagh does not give up after the excellent use in his Cinderella . Once the title of the film appears on the scene - it happens when the train stops stuck under an avalanche - the same power of the cinema is missing. No more movement, no more visual wonders. We immediately return to Branagh's first great love: the theater . In this case, a movie theater style that manifests itself in the curtains in which we see Poirot questioning every possible suspicion.The film medium that has repeatedly helped Branagh to be the number one in bringing Shakespearean films back to life, gets slightly jammed, suppressed by an overdose of theatricality . At that point the film is likely to derail. A braking that lasts about twenty minutes before the ending in which that love for the cinema returns to full speed until the last, stunning shot.
This new version of Agatha Christie's yellow will be remembered for the contribution of the names involved in front of the camera, a high-power star-power, and for how the aforementioned stars have kept their feet on the ground, amused and entertaining in this branaghiano divertissement -christiano. One thing is certain: although not among the best of Branagh, the new Orient Express makes us want to reopen the pages of Christie. And it's already a great victory for the director and actor.
Assassination on the Orient Express is currently in theaters, distributed by 20th Century Fox .