Murder On The Orient Express Review: 6 Ups & 6 Downs

Downs...

6. The Cast Is Mostly Underused

It's no exaggeration to say that the new Orient Express adaptation has amassed an embarrassment of riches as far as its cast is concerned, but in attempting to do justice to more than a dozen characters, most of the A-listers sadly don't get all that much to do.

In particular, Willem Dafoe's Austrian gentleman and Judi Dench's Russian princess are largely sidelined as window dressing and little else, effectively squandering their impeccable talents.

Elsewhere, Penélope Cruz and Olivia Colman don't get much of interest to do either, and ultimately only Michelle Pfeiffer, Johnny Depp and Branagh get to really flex their acting chops substantially.

Yes, giving so many first-rate actors great material in a movie running less than two hours isn't easy, but they barely even tried here.