Death on the Nile (2022)
Death on the Nile
- 3.5/5 Cameras🎥🎥🎥.5
- Directed by: Kenneth Branagh
- Starring: Kenneth Branagh, Gal Gadot, Armie Hammer, Emma Mackey, et al
- Where to find it: In cinemas now
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| No Copyright Infringement Intended |
Agatha Christie is by many counts the most successful author
of all time and Hercule Poirot is far and away her most famous creation, having
appeared in 33 novels and numerous film and television adaptations. I’ve never
read or seen any of them, beyond maybe a few minutes of the ITV series starring
David Suchet. That is until I decided to give the latest version of Death on
the Nile a go, a sequel to a version of Murder on the Orient Express released a
few years prior, and I must say I’m rather glad I did.
Death in the Nile begins with Poirot
(Kenneth Branagh, who also directed the film) visiting a bar in London where we
are introduced to several of the major players, Gal Gadot as Linnet, an
incredibly wealthy and eligible heiress, Emma Mackay as Jackie, a long-time
friend of Linnet’s, and Armie Hammer as Simon, Jackie’s near penniless lover
who hits it off with Linnet perhaps a little too well. Six weeks later Poirot,
now holidaying in Egypt, bumps into his old acquaintance Bouc (Tom Bateman,
returning from Murder on the Orient Express) who insists he joins him for a
party celebrating the newly married Linnet and Simon, who invite the pair to
join them on a cruise ship, The Karnack, alongside a group of friends to avoid
Jackie who has been following their travels. Inevitably, someone is murdered,
everyone is a suspect and Poirot must figure it out.
First the obvious point, this film has a pretty incredible
cast with those already mentioned being joined by Annette Benning, French and
Saunders, Letitia Wright, and a nearly unrecognisable Russell Brand amongst yet
more famous names. Despite the big names and potential clashes of ego, everyone
seems to fit in quite well; no one seems to push for the spotlight too much and
each character is distinct of the actor playing it. The chemistry is also
strong throughout which helps the film to have some good emotional weight. It’s
also well written, perhaps made easy by its famous source material. As I mentioned
earlier, I have almost no experience with the works of Agatha Christie so went
in with no idea who was going to be the killer and the film did a good job
keeping me guessing and keeping me caring for the vast majority of its runtime.
Each character’s motive felt believable and it slipped in some good twists,
though one or two clues were pushed a little more in the audience’s face than
was necessary.
Another issue I have is some of the wider establishing shots
were a little too obviously CGI, which took me out of the film at times which
is a shame because the set designs and costumes were very well done so most of
the film looks great, making these short, poor moments really stand out. I also
took some issue with a prologue depicting Poirot as a soldier in the First
World War; it felt out of place and unnecessary, complicating the character in
a way that felt a little inorganic, and perhaps pulled away from the real
focus; a good, clever whodunit; by making loss of love a major theme.
Ultimately, despite a few grievances I thoroughly enjoyed
this film. It’s a classic murder-mystery for the most part, the kind we don’t
see very often at the cinema these days which leaves it feeling quite
refreshing, despite not really doing anything that hasn’t been done a thousand
times before, perhaps just because it does it well. As I’ve said, this is my
first real foray into Agatha Christie. If there’s more like this then I might
just keep digging.
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