History YMMV / MurderOnTheOrientExpress2017

* HilariousInHindsight: This isn't the first time Derek Jacobi has been in a work based off of one of Christie's books. He played the victim in the ''Murder at the Vicarage'' episode of ''Series/{{Marple}}'', and now he's playing the victim's butler.

* TheWoobie: [[spoiler: Every major character except Bouc and Cassetti. Yes, that includes Poirot himself. '''''Everyone!''''']]

** A fair amount of of the effects weren't CGI: A full-scale model of the train was built, and was pushed along a track at the studio for shots of the train leaving Istanbul and arriving at Brod. The train crash sight was also just a single massive outdoor set. Perhaps the best effect was simulating the train journey. The carriages are sets in studio, mounted on hydraulic pistons to simulate bumps and bounces, but real footage was taken of a train ride through New Zealand. Rather than just GreenScreen the carriage windows put the scenery in by computer, the footage was projected on a large bank of [=LED=] screens running along the full length of the set, so the scenery was composited in camera. It was so effective that, when footage of this technique was shown to studio managers alongside footage taken aboard a real train, ''they couldn't tell the difference''.

* CriticalDissonance: Critics gave it mixed to negative reviews; the average viewer response has been much more positive.

* {{Woolseyism}}: One gag involves people calling Poirot Hercule'''s''' (the English spelling for the Greek hero) instead of Hercule (the French spelling, which sound the same). Accordingly, in French dubs they call him Achille instead, replacing "I do not slay the lions" with "I have [[AchillesHeel tougher heels]]" and providing an extra MythologyGag (Achille Poirot being the name of Hercule's [[spoiler:fictional]] smarter older brother in Literature/TheBigFour).

** For anyone who's acrophobic, it's unnerving to see the train stopped atop a suspension bridge, as though begging to fall.

* HilariousInHindsight: This isn't the first time Derek Jacobi has been in a work based off of one of Christie's books. He played the victim in the ''Murder at the Vicarage'' episode of Series/{{Marple}}, and now he's playing the victim's butler.

** Any time Poirot starts talking to his picture of TheLostLenore, Katherine, is quite narmful. It comes across as a blatant HaveIMentionedIAmHeterosexualToday, and the scenes are silly and laughable rather than heartstring-tugging.

** The overhead shot of finding the murder is actually very useful for the audience, as it lets them take in the whole scene without having to continuously being exposed to a shit ton of jump cuts.

* NightmareFuel: Ratchett's scream in the teaser trailer will seep into your soul.

** Giving Poirot a LostLenore; in the books Poirot is famously celibate, with the possible exception of Countess Vera Rossakoff.
** According to Kenneth Branagh, he wanted to depict a Poirot who wasn't at the final third of his career but still had a ways to go before he was the legendary Poirot (probably similar to JamesBond in ''Film/CasinoRoyale2006''.). It's not very evident here since half the characters seem to have heard of him.
* VisualEffectsOfAwesome: Didn't notice the CGI? That's a stellar example of how to use it, especially during the avalanche.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMoment: [[spoiler: After Cassetti has been murdered, Linda Arden imitated his voice to sound like he was still alive at the time.]]

* HeReallyCanAct: Josh Gad is quite the buffoon at the start, but the second half of the film really shows off his character's torment.

* MoralEventHorizon: [[spoiler: The murder of Daisy Armstrong, of course. It sets off a chain of consequences which ruined the lives of more people, with 12 of them seeking revenge on the criminal.]]

* ArtifactTitle: The train in the movie is actually the Simplon Orient Express because it stops in Vinkovci. In 1934 the normal Orient Express took a route from Istanbul to Calais with stops in Sofia and Belgrade before it splits up with the Simplon Orient Express. The Orient Express goes to Subotica while the Simplon Orient Express has its next stop at Vinkovci.

* ParanoiaFuel: You're traveling on a train that gets stuck in a snowbank and somebody's murdered meaning a fellow passenger could be the murder. This causes the passengers to turn against one another and accuse each other of committing the crime -- something that didn't happen in the original novel [[spoiler: but does make sense for people putting on an act]].

* HeReallyCanAct: Josh Gad is quite the buffoon at the start, but the second half of the film really shows of his character's torment.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMoment: [[spoiler: After Cassetti has been murdered, Linda Arden imitated his voice to sound like he was still alive at the time.]]
* CriticalDissonance: Critics gave it mixed to negative reviews; the average viewer response has been much more positive.
* HeReallyCanAct: Josh Gad is quite the buffoon at the start, but the second half of the film really shows of his character's torment.
* HilariousInHindsight: This isn't the first time Derek Jacobi has been in a work based off of one of Christie's books. He played the victim in the ''Murder at the Vicarage'' episode of Series/{{Marple}}, and now he's playing the victim's butler.
* {{Narm}}:
** [[https://ewedit.files.wordpress.com/2017/05/000253779hr.jpg?w=669 The first promotional photos raised some eyebrows]] due to Branagh's Poirot looking radically different from Christie's description. Instead of a nice neat black mustache, this Poirot has a gray walrus type mustache and soul patch on his chin. This is only made worse in the film itself, where the 'stache is so huge it stretches back over his cheeks and looks like the ends have been glued to his cheekbones. Branagh defended this decision by pointing out that Poirot plays up being a FunnyForeigner to get people to underestimate him. Additionally, Poirot is described as having a big moustache, which other adaptations have downplayed, possibly making this adaptation TruerToTheText. (The more striking difference, a ''blond'', tall, fit Poirot was hidden by the mustache, making it FridgeBrilliance ''in real life''.)
** This seems to be the fans' general reaction to the use of Music/ImagineDragons' "Believer" as the [[SoundtrackDissonance song choice]] for the first trailer. It doesn't help that it had recently been featured over the closing montage in the Season 1 finale of ''Series/{{Riverdale}}''... and the Super Bowl ad for the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch. This song is getting ''a lot'' of airplay.
** Any time Poirot starts talking to his picture of TheLostLenore, Katherine, is quite narmful. It comes across as a blatant HaveIMentionedIAmHeterosexualToday, and the scenes are silly and laughable rather than heartstring-tugging.
** At the SummationGathering, the first shot we see of all the suspects at the table for some reason looks nearly exactly like ''The Last Supper''.
** The discovery of the murder (that is, not just the murder scene itself where it's useful, but just the guys standing in the hallway talking about it) is filmed entirely from the ceiling for pretty much no reason, feeling more like a first-time director shouting "Notice me!"
** The ridiculously dramatic music playing over the kid in the opening, especially since he's running at half speed which clashes with music that would normally be played over someone sprinting.
* NarmCharm:
** The overhead shot of finding the murder is actually very useful for the audience, as it lets them take in the whole scene without having to continuously being exposed to a shit ton of jump cuts.
** That little kid running with the over dramatic music just adds to the comedy of that scene in general.
* NightmareFuel: Ratchett's scream in the teaser trailer will seep into your soul.
** For anyone who's acrophobic, it's unnerving to see the train stopped atop a suspension bridge, as though begging to fall.
** The JumpScare when [[spoiler: Dr. Arbuthnot shoots Poirot.]]
** [[spoiler:The flashback when the conspirators carry out the murder. In other adaptations Cassetti has been drugged into unconsciousness, but here he's clearly awake and aware, though too doped up to be able to fight off [=MacQueen=], who's holding him down so the others can stab him.]]
* ParanoiaFuel: You're traveling on a train that gets stuck in a snowbank and somebody's murdered meaning a fellow passenger could be the murder. This causes the passengers to turn against one another and accuse each other of committing the crime -- something that didn't happen in the original novel [[spoiler: but does make sense for people putting on an act]].
* TheyChangedItNowItSucks:
** The inevitable reaction from Christie purists over Branagh's decision to radically change Poirot's iconic look, especially the moustache. Although the moustache at least may actually be TruerToTheText; Christie describes Poirot as having a large moustache, and a notable criticism she had of Albert Finney's depiction of Poirot in the 1974 adaptation was that his 'tasche was too small.[[note]]For what it's worth, she passed away long before Peter Ustinov and David Suchet took over the role, but Ustinov's version had a similar moustache to Finney, and Suchet's was even smaller.[[/note]] Poirot's iconic fussy little moustache may be in many ways just as much an example of PopCultureOsmosis as Literature/SherlockHolmes wearing a deerstalker everywhere.
** When the second trailer revealed that the movie would contain a fight scene Christie fans were decidedly less than thrilled, though it was far from the AdrenalineTime slugfests that were inserted into the Robert Downey Jr Sherlock movies. Within the film itself, there are only a few fight scenes, but they aren’t well integrated into the plot and clash with the largely NonActionGuy interpretation of Poirot.
** Giving Poirot a LostLenore; in the books Poirot is famously celibate, with the possible exception of Countess Vera Rossakoff.
** According to Kenneth Branagh, he wanted to depict a Poirot who wasn't at the final third of his career but still had a ways to go before he was the legendary Poirot (probably similar to JamesBond in ''Film/CasinoRoyale2006''.). It's not very evident here since half the characters seem to have heard of him.
* VisualEffectsOfAwesome: Didn't notice the CGI? That's a stellar example of how to use it, especially during the avalanche.
* TheWoobie: [[spoiler: Every major character except Bouc and Cassetti. Yes, that includes Poirot himself. '''''Everyone!''''']]
----

** [[https://ewedit.files.wordpress.com/2017/05/000253779hr.jpg?w=669 The first promotional photos raised some eyebrows]] due to Branagh's Poirot looking radically different from Christie's description. Instead of a nice neat black mustache, this Poirot has a gray walrus type mustache and soul patch on his chin. This is only made worse in the film itself, where the 'stache is so huge it stretches back over his cheeks and looks like the ends have been glued to his cheekbones. Branagh defended this decision by pointing out that Poirot plays up being a FunnyForeigner to get people to underestimate him. Additionally, Poirot is described as having a big moustache, which other adaptations have downplayed, possibly making this adaptation TruerToTheText.

* SpecialEffectsFailure: The CGI is very obvious in the external shots of the train. That is, when it doesn't look like a model train.

** The discovery of the murder is filmed entirely from the ceiling for pretty much no reason, feeling more like a first-time director shouting "Notice me!"

** [[spoiler:The flashback when the conspirators carry out the murder. In other adaptations Cassetti has been drugged into unconsciousness, but here he's clearly awake and aware, though too doped up to be able to fight off MacQueen, who's holding him down so the others can stab him.]]

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMoment: [[spoiler: After Cassetti has been murdered, Linda Ardman imitated his voice to sound like he was still alive at the time.]]