Death on the Nile (2022)
Directed by Kenneth Branagh
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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What critics say influenced Death on the Nile
But the Christie adaptations that followed — “Death on the Nile” (1978), “The Mirror Crack’d” (1980), “Evil Under the Sun” (1982) — were half-baked suspense films that felt, collectively, like the fading embers of a genre.
Many folks enjoy a good mystery, so maybe Branagh should shoot for “Evil Under the Sun” in 2024?
But the Christie adaptations that followed — “Death on the Nile” (1978), “The Mirror Crack’d” (1980), “Evil Under the Sun” (1982) — were half-baked suspense films that felt, collectively, like the fading embers of a genre.
Death on the Nile (previously adapted in 1978) is not quite as enjoyable as Orient Express , primarily because the first hour of the movie takes too long to get out of the harbor and spends too much time on various non-essential activities before finally diving into the sleuthing of whodunit.
"Death on the Nile" is in almost every conceivable way a step down from Branagh's last outing with the character, to say nothing of the Peter Ustinov-led version from 1978 or the David Suchet television adaptation of Christie's novel from 2004.
Sluggishly directed by Kenneth Branagh, the unnecessary remake of the 1978 film version of Dame Agatha Christie’s Death on the Nile is a curiously boring misfire.
Even if one has seen the 1978 DEATH ON THE NILE, which starred Peter Ustinov as detective Hercule Poirot, and/or read the book, and/or just figured out what has to be happening from the set-up, there’s still fun to be had following the clues and figuring out who did what and why and how the central crime goes unsolved as long as it does.
“Clue,” “Knives Out” and the new Apple TV+ show “The Afterparty” allow for inventive filmmaking that combines humor with danger and true character development that make audiences care about the investigation as much as the resolution.
The best ensemble mysteries, and I’m including the likes of Knives Out (2019), Clue (1985), and Murder on the Orient Express here, thrive on the presence and engagement of their suspects.
However with a sequel already contracted and in the works, one could only hope that returning director and star Kenneth Branagh may have taken a “ Clue ” from his past murder mystery mistakes into filming Death on the Nile.
The formula which Christie practically invented, in which a clever detective identifies a murderer from a group of suspects who have equally legitimate motives, has been replicated for decades in popular culture, in everything from the boardgame Clue to the popular television show Murder, She Wrote to the recent box office smash Knives Out .
When watching earlier eras of similar films, it’s easier to let those particular writing styles have a pass, but now that the bar has been moved by films like “ Memento “, “ Knives Out “, and even “ Clue ,” any fans of the genre will be able to spot the all-too glaring clues along the way.
Annette Bening is so cynical that it’s humorous and Jennifer Saunders adds just enough sarcastic bite to remind us ever so slightly of Absolutely Fabulous .
As a fan of Absolutely Fabulous and The Vicar of Dibley , naturally I enjoy seeing the lovely comedy duo Jennifer Saunders and Dawn French.
Intriguingly, there’s also Linnet’s godmother ( Absolutely Fabulous veteran Jennifer Saunders), who happens to be a communist.
Along with Bouc and his mother, wealthy artist Euphemia (Annette Bening), the Doyles are (for some reason) spending their honeymoon with a group that consists of Linnet’s ex, Linus Windlesham (Russell Brand, “Forgetting Sarah Marshall”), an aristocratic doctor; Louise Bourget (Rose Leslie, “Game of Thrones”), Linnet’s lady’s maid; Linnet’s cousin and Oxford-educated lawyer, Andrew Katchadourian (Ali Fazal, “Victoria & Abdul”); her godmother, Marie Van Schuyler (Jennifer Saunders, “Absolutely Fabulous”), who has denounced her wealth since becoming a Communist; Marie’s nurse and companion, Mrs. Bowers (Dawn French, “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban”); the aforementioned Salome, hired to sing at the couple’s wedding; and Salome’s business-savvy manager and niece, Rosalie (Letitia Wright, “Black Panther”).
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Yes, Knives Out proved that if you deposit a dead body in the middle of a mansion and get an idiosyncratic detective to go full metal Sherlock on marquee-name suspects, moviegoers will come — Rian Johnson’s movie is a perfect blend of genre homage, a gentle ribbing at the mustiness of these drawing-room thrillers and an ungodly amount of fun.
And, yes, 2019's "Knives Out" had Daniel Craig's eccentric detective putting a fresh contemporary spin on the whodunit that Branagh couldn’t hope to match.
Still, the biggest sea change to swamp “Death on the Nile” may have been something else: Rian Johnson’s “Knives Out” kind of blew it out the water.
Whereas Rian Johnson’s Knives Out leant into tropes while simultaneously upending them, Branagh plays Hercule Poirot, and Christie generally, a good deal dustier.
If 2019’s Knives Out was, at times, a bit too arch about its genre conventions, Branagh’s Poirot films are far on the opposite side of the spectrum.
What's different this time around is that the unforeseen COVID-19 delay of Branagh's second film enabled American director Rian Johnson to step into the gap with his own, very Christie-like period gumshoe movie, the 2019 "Knives Out," which, like "Orient Express," was a big worldwide hit.
But the Christie adaptations that followed — “Death on the Nile” (1978), “The Mirror Crack’d” (1980), “Evil Under the Sun” (1982) — were half-baked suspense films that felt, collectively, like the fading embers of a genre.
The on-screen events feel so authentic, you’d almost swear that you (from the comfort of your living room) are catching a sunburn and also a few grains of sand in your mouth, not unlike watching Indiana Jones whip around the Middle East in “Raiders of the Lost Ark” (1981).
The club is populated with wealthy socialites who bump and grind to such a degree, they make Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey from “Dirty Dancing” look like prim and proper ballroom dancers.
The beginning scene in the dance hall, however, is well done and leaves the viewer craving more - side note: there is NO WAY people would have been dancing in a public club like that during the 1900s (for a minute I felt as if I was watching Dirty Dancing).
The lovebirds dance in a spacious ballroom and attempt their best “Dirty Dancing” routine that might be best defined as rhythmic canoodling.
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It’s like the opener in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) that explained Harrison Ford’s chin scar—or perhaps more accurately, the titular character in The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943), who hid a facial scar behind his walrus mustache.
I wasn’t the biggest fan of our last mystery with Agatha Christy penned detective Hercule Poirot, Murder on the Orient Express .