Death on the Nile review

DEATH ON THE NILE: 

WELL-CRAFTED WHODUNIT SEQUEL IS SUSPENSEFUL, BUT TREADS FAMILIAR WATERS! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** out of 4

20^TH CENTURY STUDIOS

One of these people committed a horrific murder in Death on the Nile

 

            Kenneth Branagh (Hamlet (1996), Thor, Belfast) returns to direct and don the mustache once again as detective, Hercule Poirot in Death on the Nile, the highly anticipated follow-up to his 2017 adaptation of Agatha Christie’s novel, Murder on the Orient Express. I really enjoyed Branagh’s version of Murder on the Orient Express, I don’t think it’s his best work, but I found it to be a very entertaining and gripping caper with an all-star cast, striking visuals and cinematography, and a mystery that kept me guessing, the same is true for this movie to an extent. 

            This marks the third adaptation of the Death on the Nile book with the previous two being the 1978 film version and a 2004 episode of the TV series, Agatha Christie’s Poirot. The film also had a very interesting release history like many other recent Fox films such as The New Mutants, Free Guy, and The King’s Man as it was originally scheduled to be released in 2019, but was pushed back until 2020 for reshoots, then several times in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, until finally landing a February 2022 release. 

            I didn’t really have any expectations going into Poirot’s second case outside of my thoughts on the first film which I revisited the night before, which was my first time watching it since the theatrical release. Coming out of it, I can say that Death on the Nile is…about the same as what I thought of the 2017 Murder on the Orient Express, which was good and had an excellent cast, but the film at times is a little disjointed. 

            The film follows Belgian sleuth, Hercule Poirot (Branagh) taking an Egyptian vacation aboard a glamorous river steamer across the Nile with newlyweds, Linnet (Gal Gadot-Fast & Furious franchise, DC Extended Universe, Red Notice) and Simon Doyle (Armie Hammer-The Social Network, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Call Me by Your Name). However, their dream honeymoon suddenly turns into a nightmare as someone is murdered on the ship and everyone onboard is a suspect, resulting in Hercule to once again do what he does best, find out who the culprit is and crack the case. 

            The film also stars Tom Bateman (Creditors, Snatched, Cold Pursuit) reprising his role as Bouc, Annette Bening (American Beauty, Being Julia, Captain Marvel) as Euphemia, Russell Brand (Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Get Him to the Greek, Despicable Me 1 and 2) as Linus Windlesham, Ali Fazal (Furious 7, Victoria & Abdul) as Andrew Katchadourian, Dawn French (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Coraline) as Mrs. Bowers, Rose Leslie (Downton Abbey, Game of Thrones, Morgan) as Louise Bourget, Emma Mackey (Sex Education, Eiffel, Emily) as Jacqueline “Jackie” Bellefort, Sophie Okonedo (Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls, Hotel Rwanda, The Secret Life of Bees) as Salome Otterbourne, Jennifer Saunders (Muppet Treasure Island, Shrek 2, Sing 1 and 2) as Marie Van Schuyler, Letitia Wright (Doctor Who, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Sing 2) as Rosalie Otterbourne, and Ann Turkel (The Fear, Touch Me, Déjà Vu) as Meredith Wilson. 

            Overall, Death on the Nile is the kind of film that can be easily recommended in under five seconds. Did you like the 2017 Murder on the Orient Express? You did, then you’ll probably like this one also. 

            It isn’t trying to be a game-changer in the murder-mystery genre, but instead plays more like murder-mystery comfort food that’s reminiscent to other iconic films of said genre, like Scooby-Doo for adults…kind of. The plot is pretty much the same as its predecessor except set on a boat instead of a train and you do start to catch on to who the possible suspects are going to be as the film progresses, but it still allows the audience to figure it out and at times throws you a few unexpected curveballs.

            Kenneth Branagh is once again great as Hercule, he’s funny, charismatic, and he even has his share of heartfelt moments whether it’s a possible love interest or reflecting on his past and trying not to tear up. Branagh in this movie is what you’d get if the Robert Downey Jr. Sherlock Holmes was more human and less like a cartoon. 

            Branagh also excels at directing his co-stars, which once again is an ensemble cast of very recognizable actors. Tom Bateman, who I often forget was in the previous film is a lot more prevalent this time around and even has a very funny introduction where he’s flying a kite on top of a pyramid for no reason. 

            Russell Brand is almost unrecognizable in this very restrained performance that plays against type from the characters he usually portrays and is excellent whenever he’s onscreen. Even the side characters who don’t have as much screen-time still manage to make an impression whenever present. 

            The cinematography is breathtaking, and the visuals are stunning, watching on the big screen and especially in IMAX with the sweeping shots of the ship on the Nile and of Egypt, it feels like you’re right there. It also helps that you have a director who’s practically a master at shooting films that look big and epic, even the real world will look like something out of a fantasy world with Branagh behind the camera…and in front of it too. 

            However, the film is very disjointed especially during the beginning which feels like it has multiple opening scenes that don’t really correlate with the rest of the story that much. You got a black-and-white 1917-style opening with Kenneth Branagh fighting in World War I that shows the origin behind his big mustache with awkward-looking de-aging effects that raises more questions than give answers and could have easily been taken out as it doesn’t really come back in the rest of the film, but once the characters get on the ship and murders start happening, it quickly picks up from there. 

            Also, at times the film will cut to shots of CGI fish in the water that look artificial and fake and there’s some odd-looking green-screen effects to the point where you’re wondering if the characters are really there or not. 

            Death on the Nile offers another well-crafted murder-mystery with a star-studded cast and a lot of suspense, even if it treads familiar waters. It isn’t perfect, but there are so many positive aspects to this film to make me overlook (most of) the flaws.