Rating: 8.3
Death on the Nile is surprisingly good! I actually consider it to be just as good if not better than “Murder on the Orient Express”. Kenneth Branagh is just so good at delivering these great adaptations of some classic Agatha Christie whodunnits. This film, much like “Murder” is very old fashioned in how it’s made, perhaps to a fault, but I just adore the classic cinema feel it has. So much of this is attributed to Branagh’s direction, which is much more fluid here and really transports you into the story! You can tell how much he admires the source material and works to do it justice, his love really pays off.
My favourite parts are easily the production design and cinematography. Everything we see in this film is gorgeous, from the complex sets to the stunning costumes to the eye popping visuals, it just looks richly made. I love the commitment to building practical sets, and much like how they built the full train for “Murder” they built the entire exterior and interior of the ship for this film. I love this because of the details and feel the setting adds to the film, as well as how it allows Branagh to let the camera track characters down the entirety of the ship, as well as move inside and outside without having to cut or change sets. The cinematography itself is beautiful, every frame just looks fantastic and there are so many epic sweeping shots of some truly amazing locations! The best aspect of it was the vibrant colour and contrast, it just looks so good and was a feast for the eyes.
Branagh’s strengths didn’t just lie with his direction, but with his performance as Hercule Poirot as well, which continues to be the best parts of these movies! He was born to play this character and fits the role so well, with every monologue he has coming off as gripping and fascinating. I loved how the explored and developed the character a little more with this one, I found it so interesting how they did it and ate it right up! The other characters however, weren’t too interesting or memorable. They all had their moments, but nothing as special as what “Murder” had. The characters aren’t as interesting as the mystery they are in, and the cast members themselves are just okay. The film is unfortunately plagued by some of its cast’s personal lives and their negative actions, but I tried to separate that from my enjoyment of the film and just enjoy the performances for what they were. I liked that it did have a bit of a smaller ensemble, it made for some more interesting character moments and dynamics.
The plot itself was quite good; I love these types of mysteries. It constantly evolved and had lots of twists and turns. It was so good with setup and payoffs, and did this way better at this than the first film! I liked that it took the time to really setup the relationships and plots before diving into the mystery and conflicts, something “Murder” didn’t really do outside of conversation scenes. The only downside to this was that the 1st act felt way too slow, and the movie took really long to get going. It almost lost me in the first hour, wondering when we would actually get to the murder mystery aspects. This is easily the film’s biggest weakness, it should have streamlined this section a lot more and cut about 20 minutes of it, because it just makes the film feel way too long. The script also seemed to point to the identity of the killer and their motives right away in the script, it almost showed us too much to the point that it felt obvious to me who it was. I will give the film credit though, while I was right in the end, it did have me questioning myself multiple times throughout.
While I wasn’t as excited for this one as I was for “Murder on the Orient Express” I think this one is easily just as good! Its a solidly entertaining film, its very well done and a really fun and well crafted whodunnit. If you liked Branagh’s 2017 adaptation of “Murder”, or like classic murder mysteries in general, this movie is definitely for you! Kenneth Branagh is the perfect filmmaker to take on this material, I think he made a film that knows what it is and works so well, while lovingly adapting such a classic story.
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IMDb Rating: 6.6/10
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 66%
RT Audience Score: 82%
Metacritic Score: 53
CinemaScore: B
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20th Century Studios
Directed by Kenneth Branagh
Screenplay by Michael Green
Based on the novel by Agatha Christie
Cast: Kenneth Branagh, Tom Bateman, Annette Benning, Russell Brand, Ali Fazal, Dawn French, Gal Gadot, Armie Hammer, Rose Leslie, Emma Mackey, Sophie Okonedo, Jennifer Saunders, Letitia Wright
Runtime: 2hr 7min
Rating: PG
Crime, Drama, Mystery
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Belgian sleuth Hercule Poirot's Egyptian vacation aboard a glamorous river steamer turns into a terrifying search for a murderer when a picture-perfect couple's idyllic honeymoon is tragically cut short.
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Fun Fact: The only two characters to appear in both this film and its predecessor are Poirot himself and his friend Bouc (Tom Bateman). Actually, Bouc does not appear in the novel 'Death on the Nile,' but was added in place of a similar character from the book.
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