Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times / Lifestyle

Movie Review: Murder on the Orient Express (+trailer)

Jaden McLeod
By Jaden McLeod
VideoJournalist Bay of Plenty, NZH Local Focus·NZME. regionals·
19 Nov, 2017 03:00 PM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save
    Share this article
NZ Herald Head of Entertainment Joanna Hunkin speaks to Kenneth Branagh about elaborate moustaches, French accents and 'Murder on the Orient Express'. Additional footage provided by Wove Studio / 20th Century Fox.

"There is nothing like a tangle of strangers, pressed together, with nothing more in common than the need to get to get to their destination."

Truer words were ne'er spoken.

Agatha Christie's 1934 novel Murder on the Orient Express has been hailed as one of the Queen of Crime's best works, with its ingenious plot twists and characterisation.

Featuring her beloved Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, it has been adapted for television and film multiple times, most recently in 2010. Then, David Suchet starred as the little man with the large, elegant moustaches.

Daisy Ridley, Olivia Colman and Judi Dench.
Daisy Ridley, Olivia Colman and Judi Dench.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

For this blockbuster overhaul, the film is directed by Sir Kenneth Branagh, who appears in the film as Poirot — alongside an all-star cast including Dame Judi Dench, Sir Derek Jacobi, Michelle Pfeiffer, Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz, Daisy Ridley, Willem Dafoe, Olivia Colman, Josh Gad, Leslie Odom Jr. and Lucy Boynton.

As an incredible fan of Mrs Christie, I was concerned as to how I would react. The big budget of $55,000,000 concerned me — would Branagh make Poirot too much of an action man? His lithe figure was alarming enough. However, he didn't overdo it. There was a good marriage of all that makes Monsieur Poirot so special.

Filmed in 70mm, it was a spectacle to behold. The attention to detail was profoundly mesmerising. Some overhead shots might have been slightly shorter, but everyone will have their own interpretation of the variety of shots.

The score could have been more epic, akin to the adaptions of past directors in the 1970s (Lumet, Guillermin), however the acting was second to none. It felt incredible to have a traditional procedural mystery on the big screen after so long.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

People have become used to short dialogue, snappy action, thriller and horror. I find this sort of film far more engrossing.

Murder on the Orient Express
Crime, Drama, Mystery 113mins

Save
    Share this article

Latest from Lifestyle

Bay of Plenty Times

Organic honey - from bush to boutique in Coromandel

Bay of Plenty Times

Stan Walker, L.A.B. gear up for epic summer shows in NZ, Australia

Bay of Plenty Times

'Evolving and innovating': New Zealand's top holiday park named


Sponsored

Revealed: The night driving ‘red flag’

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Lifestyle

Organic honey - from bush to boutique in Coromandel
Bay of Plenty Times

Organic honey - from bush to boutique in Coromandel

The Mackenzies won gold and silver at the Outstanding Food Producer Awards this year.

28 Jul 09:47 PM
Stan Walker, L.A.B. gear up for epic summer shows in NZ, Australia
Bay of Plenty Times

Stan Walker, L.A.B. gear up for epic summer shows in NZ, Australia

27 Jul 09:15 PM
'Evolving and innovating': New Zealand's top holiday park named
Bay of Plenty Times

'Evolving and innovating': New Zealand's top holiday park named

24 Jul 04:51 AM


Revealed: The night driving ‘red flag’
Sponsored

Revealed: The night driving ‘red flag’

04 Aug 11:37 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP