Directed by Kenneth Branagh
Where & When: TCL Chinese Theaters, February 15, 2022 4:30 PM
The mystery novels by Agatha Christie have endured for over one hundred years with many of them having been adapted for the radio, stage, television and movies. Her 1934 mystery, "Murder on the Orient Express" was recently made again as a feature film in 2017 by Kenneth Branagh who also starred as Hercule Poirot, the Belgium detective who was Christie's most famous character, appearing in over eighty of her books. This film, filled with big-name stars, was a modest international success and a follow-up seemed inevitable. Branagh returns behind the camera and once again plays Poirot in "Death on the Nile", another stylish murder-mystery from Christie, glammed up with beautiful stars and vivid, exotic locations created largely through the magic of CGI. This film is exquisitely rendered and has moments that are compelling but overall feels like an empty exercise in suspense, never delivering a real sense of danger or urgency.
The film opens with a black & white prologue set during World War I with a young Poirot serving as a solider. This is where we witness him first using his keen intellect and observational skills to help secure victory in reclaiming land for the allied troops and discover the reason behind his elaborate mustache. Cut to many years later with Poirot in a London jazz club observing a curious scenario; Jackie de Bellefort (Emma Mackey) is dancing passionately with her new man, Simon Doyle (Armie Hammer) to the sounds of American blues singer, Salome Otterbourne (Sophie Okonedo) when the beautiful heiress, Linnet Ridgeway (Gal Gadot) enters the room. Jackie can't wait to introduce Simon to Linnet and ask a favor of her childhood friend, hoping that she could offer a job to her fiancé. After she happily agrees, Jackie insists that Linnet and Simon dance together to celebrate.
Months later and far from surprising, Linnet and Simon have married in Egypt with a devastated Jackie is left sulking and engaging in what we now refer to as stalking. Vacationing near the Nile, Poirot gets wrapped up in their honeymoon affair when he encounters his friend, Bouc (Tom Bateman) who is there with his mother, Euphemia (Annette Bening) for the wedding. He introduces the famous detective to the couple who enthusiastically invite him to join their festivities. But Jackie has tracked them down, intending to offer nothing more than gloom to the couple's nuptials. Yet instead of allowing her to completely ruin their plans, Linnet rents a private cruise ship to take her wedding party down the Nile to continue the celebration.
During this cruise down the Egyptian river, there is a horrific murder. None of the guests are above suspicion which includes the musician Otterbourne and her niece, Rosalie (Letitia Wright); Linnet's lawyer (Ali Fazal), maid (Rose Leslie) and godmother, the socialite, Marie Van Schuyler (Jennifer Saunders). There is also Van Schuyler's nurse (Dawn French), a successful doctor (Russell Brand) that was Linnet's former fiancé and the persistent Jackie who has managed to sneak aboard the boat. And while Poirot investigates into solving this crime, there is another murder, frustrating the detective even further.
With "Death on the Nile", Branagh has two goals in mind; to respectfully honor the enduring legacy of the British author's body of work while attempting to introduce a new generation to her timeless yet dated oeuvre utilizing a modern viewpoint. But what he and screenwriter, Michael Green have done is not entirely successful in achieving these goals. This version of "Death on the Nile" remains relatively faithful to Christie's novel although there has been a slight change to the plot, with some characters having been altered or eliminated. Branagh has opened up this murder-mystery further with a racially diverse cast and a burst of suspenseful action that was over before it really began. Despite these attempts to make Christie's work more appealing to a modern audience, the film still feels lacking in verve and imagination, failing to be compelling for audiences young or old.
After being fed a steady diet of social media and reality television, it seems like today's audience expects a certain amount of offbeat wit, screaming hysterics and a good dose of bitchiness in their dramas. You will not find any of that here. The characters are uniformly bland, missing qualities that would make them feel distinctive and interesting. Gadot, who dazzled as the super-powered, Wonder Woman, falls flat here when she attempts to come down-to-Earth as the heiress. Linnet admits to Poirot that she fears for her life yet Gadot's take on her character always comes across as immensely kind, thoughtful and polite, never for a moment seeming like the cruel, pampered, man-stealing shrew she surely would have been. And then there's Mr. Hammer who was virtually wiped clean from any promotion of this film. After filming was complete, the actor ran into some trouble with a scandal involving sexual assault and a cannibalistic fetish. Reshooting Hammer's role was considered but proved too complicated so he remains in the film, actually delivering a decent performance.
"Death on the Nile" may have been thrilling and clever when it first appeared almost eighty years ago but the world has changed considerably since then. I have to admit I was not familiar with this story and had not seen (yet) the previous feature film version from 1978 with Peter Ustinov as Poirot and an impressive cast that featured Maggie Smith, Angela Lansbury, Mia Farrow, David Niven and Bette Davis. But I knew whodunit long before the conclusion. The fact is that the solving of the mystery is besides the point as the real fun is supposed to be in the corrupt characters and suspenseful set-ups before the final discovery of the killer. Branagh has played it far too safe, only making minor changes to a classic but not nearly enough to truly engage 21st century viewers.
During this cruise down the Egyptian river, there is a horrific murder. None of the guests are above suspicion which includes the musician Otterbourne and her niece, Rosalie (Letitia Wright); Linnet's lawyer (Ali Fazal), maid (Rose Leslie) and godmother, the socialite, Marie Van Schuyler (Jennifer Saunders). There is also Van Schuyler's nurse (Dawn French), a successful doctor (Russell Brand) that was Linnet's former fiancé and the persistent Jackie who has managed to sneak aboard the boat. And while Poirot investigates into solving this crime, there is another murder, frustrating the detective even further.
With "Death on the Nile", Branagh has two goals in mind; to respectfully honor the enduring legacy of the British author's body of work while attempting to introduce a new generation to her timeless yet dated oeuvre utilizing a modern viewpoint. But what he and screenwriter, Michael Green have done is not entirely successful in achieving these goals. This version of "Death on the Nile" remains relatively faithful to Christie's novel although there has been a slight change to the plot, with some characters having been altered or eliminated. Branagh has opened up this murder-mystery further with a racially diverse cast and a burst of suspenseful action that was over before it really began. Despite these attempts to make Christie's work more appealing to a modern audience, the film still feels lacking in verve and imagination, failing to be compelling for audiences young or old.
After being fed a steady diet of social media and reality television, it seems like today's audience expects a certain amount of offbeat wit, screaming hysterics and a good dose of bitchiness in their dramas. You will not find any of that here. The characters are uniformly bland, missing qualities that would make them feel distinctive and interesting. Gadot, who dazzled as the super-powered, Wonder Woman, falls flat here when she attempts to come down-to-Earth as the heiress. Linnet admits to Poirot that she fears for her life yet Gadot's take on her character always comes across as immensely kind, thoughtful and polite, never for a moment seeming like the cruel, pampered, man-stealing shrew she surely would have been. And then there's Mr. Hammer who was virtually wiped clean from any promotion of this film. After filming was complete, the actor ran into some trouble with a scandal involving sexual assault and a cannibalistic fetish. Reshooting Hammer's role was considered but proved too complicated so he remains in the film, actually delivering a decent performance.
"Death on the Nile" may have been thrilling and clever when it first appeared almost eighty years ago but the world has changed considerably since then. I have to admit I was not familiar with this story and had not seen (yet) the previous feature film version from 1978 with Peter Ustinov as Poirot and an impressive cast that featured Maggie Smith, Angela Lansbury, Mia Farrow, David Niven and Bette Davis. But I knew whodunit long before the conclusion. The fact is that the solving of the mystery is besides the point as the real fun is supposed to be in the corrupt characters and suspenseful set-ups before the final discovery of the killer. Branagh has played it far too safe, only making minor changes to a classic but not nearly enough to truly engage 21st century viewers.
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