Death on the Nile (2022)

Starring: Kenneth Branagh, Gal Gadot, Armie Hammer, Tom Bateman, Annette Bening, Russell Brand, Letitia Wright, Sophie Okonedo, Ali Fazal, Jennifer Saunders, Dawn French
Directed by: Kenneth Branagh
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Drama, Mystery
2022

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Hercule Poirot (Kenneth Branagh) investigates a strange murder onboard a ship traveling down the Nile River in Egypt.

Review:

Tim: After the surprisingly excellent Murder on the Orient Express, I was so excited to see Kenneth Branagh return to the world of Hercule Poirot. He did such a great job directing and acting in the previous film, I was so enthusiastic about returning to this character. Unfortunately, Death on the Nile represents a major step backwards for the franchise. It's still a good movie and it was fun to watch it, but it felt like a completely expected detective story. It was missing so much of what made the previous film so great. So, while I'd consider this a good movie and worth seeing, it's hard not to feel some level of disappointment in the final product.

I remember having so much fun with Murder on the Orient Express- Branagh's Poirot was this humorous, larger-than-life character. He was on board a train with a diverse and eclectic cast and there was a pressing murder he needed to solve. The mystery was compelling. So few of those elements are in place here. I don't think I ever felt any sense of fun watching this movie. Poirot seems too introspective, Branagh's performance didn't have the energy of the original. The cast of this film felt disappointing. The characters weren't nearly as interesting and the actors chosen were surprisingly bland. The murder this time around felt too predictable, the conclusion unsatisfying. The movie is overly long at 2 hour, 7 minutes- it drags in too many places and there's no stunning revelation at the end. Branagh is a competent director, so he never completely loses the audience, but it was odd how disengaging much of the story felt. Whereas I loved the previous viewing experience, I was mostly glad when this movie ended. Yes, the ride was still worth taking, but it was desperately missing the magic and energy Branagh brought to the previous film. Now, I've only read one of Agatha Christie's Poirot novels (and it wasn't this one), so I don't know whether this was somewhat influenced by the story itself. Maybe, but I do think Branagh brought less to this sequel. It feels like more of a task than a passion project.

As I said earlier, I didn't love Branagh as Poirot this time around. It felt odd, the flashback at the beginning, telling the "origin" story of his mustache. I guess it was meant to illuminate something about the character, but it kind of got things off to a heavy start. Branagh never recovers from this, his Poirot is fine here, but he didn't sparkle or make me laugh like in the previous film. I think Gal Gadot might have been a bit miscast as well. She certainly has the looks for the role, yes. She's perfect from that perspective. I just don't think Gadot is all that great of an actress. Her performance is fine, but uninspired. I do feel a bit bad about the casting of Armie Hammer. Hammer has been dealing with a ton of personal controversy (seemingly at least some of it warranted). I'm pretty good at separating personal lives from performances, but it felt sad watching Hammer here, considering who he might be and how much promise he potentially threw away. That being said, his performance felt average even without the personal controversies. Having a less effective Branagh paired with an average Gadot and Hammer really hurts the film.

The supporting cast isn't much better. Tom Bateman was fine, but surprisingly forgettable. A better actor in this role would have helped. Annette Bening was solid, she's a talented actress and her small role worked well. Rose Leslie felt out of place. Her acting is fine, but she never felt like she gelled in the cast. I loved Russell Brand- I honestly didn't even recognize him for quite a while. His performance is solid and I really enjoyed his performance. I just can't get over how different he looks. Letitia Wright was serviceable, although she doesn't really do much that is impressive. She has a few big scenes where she could have delivered, but the performance felt forced. Sophie Okonedo gives a strong performance, but her chemistry with Branagh felt a bit flat. And then there's a few other people, too. I mean, it's fairly discouraging to see how little use Branagh got from this cast. I think it started with multiple miscastings. It's all a bit uninspired.

The story itself is fairly good. There is a mystery and while it was fairly easy to predict the ending, Branagh does enough to keep us guessing to some extent. I was never outright bored at any point. I might not have been as engrossed as I needed to be, but Branagh is a solid director and he does enough to keep us focused on the story. I do think the visual effects were quite terrible here. I have no idea what happened, but it was one of the worst I've seen in many years. Several scenes were just laughable. I honestly can't understand how Branagh could let this film be released with such shoddy visuals. It's clear this wasn't shot on location.

Death on the Nile is a perfectly good movie in the end. It has a ton of flaws and I ultimately felt disappointed in the final product, but Branagh didn't deliver a bad movie. There were flashes of strengths to the point where I hope this was just a product of filming during covid, or something unique that happened. I still think there's a lot of life in this Poirot franchise and I hope Branagh is able to bounce back with another movie and improve on this one. .

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 7



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Murder on the Orient Express, Knives Out, Sleuth