Death on the Nile

Having seen the adaptations with both Peter Ustinov and David Suchet before, I approached the newest Death on the Nile as a properly described sheet of "papyrus". As a result, I couldn't fully appreciate the detective plot because I knew who was behind it all – but that's my problem. So I focused more on the acting, the visual presentation and any innovations to the source material and previous adaptations. In terms of the acting, Death on the Nile was embarrassing, even within the individual performances. From a visual point of view, however, the film definitely has something to offer, if only due to the setting in Egypt and on a boat, but some scenes seemed too artificial and contrived. Branagh's adaptation differs quite a bit from the book in its conception: the opening sequence depicting the origin of Poirot's moustache I could have easily been shortened or inserted as a flashback to the plot, and I was a bit bothered by the unnecessary sexualisation of the characters (sexual tension can be built up less blatantly). On the other hand, I didn't mind the slight changes to the characters in terms of gender, victims, etc. Death on the Nile is an appealing and modern take on Poirot, albeit set in the 1930s, which will surely be most appreciated by those unfamiliar with the source material and the other films, but I personally felt that it could have been handled differently (and better?). (02/11/2022)

At the beginning Branagh unnecessarily illuminates the reason for the moustache, he probably thinks we viewers are complete idiots, and then in artificial digital sets, coloured like gypsies' nails, he decides to desecrate an otherwise quite nice piece of literature. I wouldn't have expected this from him, someone with a theatre background. (04/19/2022)

At times Death on the Nile looks like a modern theatre play, at times like a largely impressive colouring book, which is inappropriate for a film of this type. The whole thing is a little bit flat, sweaty, going for power, or rather for effect. Branagh's Poirot is OK, but the rest of the cast is mostly jerking and prancing around. What's missing are real visuals, decent camera work, real sets and, most importantly, a better plot. (05/02/2022)

Hercule Poirot for the second time, and another borefest. Murder on the Orient Express is one of the few films where I fell asleep in the cinema, and Death on the Nile has a similarly leisurely pace, but thankfully it didn't cost me my cinema ticket. Nothing happens for an hour, nothing at all. They introduce uninteresting characters in an uninteresting way with uninteresting dialogue, but fortunately in a fairly attractive setting (Egypt, the Nile) – a minor plus point compared to a Train – but I still found it woefully underwhelming. I don't find Hercule Poirot interesting as a detective, he doesn't have any gripping, revolutionary investigative methods, nothing to stand out, he's an intelligent gentleman doing his job but it doesn't add much to the viewing experience. The wait for a murder here is longer than the wait for a payday, and on top of that it's just the usual uninterestingly rendered murders in every other B-grade crime series. I don't see how a fan of Se7en, Hannibal and the like, where everything from the murders to the actual investigation works, can be satisfied with the outcome here. I was counting on at least the final reveal, where an interesting twist might come, but even that is readable from the opening minutes, even without knowing the source material. For me, the prototype of the most useless and least attractive crime drama that the world may see. Only pensioners can be entertained by this. Decent visuals, fine actors, but everything else completely passed me by both cinematically and as a viewer. Story 3/5. Action 0/5, Humour 2/5, Violence 1/5, Fun 2/5 Music 3/5, Visuals 4/5, Atmosphere 3/5, Suspense 2/5, Emotion 2/5, Actors 3/5. 4/10. (07/12/2022)

I'm giving it one more star than Murder on the Orient Express, mainly because Death on the Nile is not just "another Hercule Poirot mystery", but it's a Hercule Poirot mystery that is about Hercule Poirot in addition to the search for the murderer. Kenneth Branagh and co. tried that last time, but it's only here that it works – this time I was as interested in Poirot as I was in how the case was developing, and I didn't really care that the case was notorious and I already knew the killer. With Death on the Nile, Branagh's Poirot becomes the second best Poirot, and the film's conclusion, its last shot, is already one of the most memorable cinematic moments for me. (03/19/2022)