Death on the Nile is an improvement over the first movie in many ways. Vibrant, more detailed in the mystery, and better direction.
If you would have told me three years ago I would enjoy this movie, I might have laughed in your face. Murder on the Orient Express was one of my biggest disappointments the year it was released. I wanted more, I craved better, and the murder mystery left me unsatisfied. But none the less we have a sequel continuing Hercule Poirot’s detective skills and this time around it was surprisingly good. Not great, but good.
With any review, I love starting with what I enjoyed more than what I didn’t and in this case, Kenneth Branagh is the standout. In front of the camera and behind it. He was truly born to play Hercule Poirot as he transforms into this character and never leaves. Each bit of monologue or that next clue he finds you are hanging on each and every second when he is on screen.
This element actually brings me to his direction. In the first movie one of my biggest issues was I never felt tension nor did I feel like I could go about solving the mystery. This time around Branagh was able to direct in a way that tragically brings to life the Nile as well as the death that happens upon it. I felt like a detective while watching this movie as I was putting each piece of the puzzle together. This is really where Branagh excels and I was thoroughly impressed.
Branagh wasn’t the only stand out as Gal Gadot continues to impress with her acting capabilities, Tom Bateman has such a charm to his performance, Letitia Wright, and Sophie Okonedo. Everyone else does a fine job but these cast members were easily the bigger stand-out.
As well I would be remiss to not mention the brilliant cinematography in the film that created such an amazing aroma. The depiction of Egypt during this time was just quite beautiful. Making the film itself a swelling time into the past to investigate THE DEATH ON THE NILE. But with every murder mystery, there is THE TWIST. The twist here is how much I loathed the entire first act of this film. It’s a compliment that I truly enjoyed the film more as it went on but at two hours and 7 minutes, this film has major pacing issues. Some of these are due to a misplaced flashback right at the start of the film.
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While beautiful in the way it was made (Branagh needs to make a WW1 Movie) I expected a lot more from that scene and felt it would have been better in a scene later in the movie where Poirot gets more personal about everything that has happened in his life. I dug that they gave more depth to our main heroine, but they really needed to fix this. The murder mystery doesn’t occur till halfway through the movie, and that was an issue.
I understand this is an adaption but in this case, we needed to get to the killing way faster. At one point in the movie, I zoned out for about 10 minutes and got worried that I missed something – it turned out I had not. In fact, I was able to catch on to some early clues that ended up making the mystery entirely too easy to solve. I knew who the killer was before the murder even occurred. But even though I had my prime suspect it never did change. Branagh does a really good job making you question your guesses as he conducts interviews throughout, which did still create some fun to be had.
Death on the Nile is an improvement over the first movie in many ways. Vibrant, More detailed in the mystery, and even better direction brings to life a classic murder mystery that I had fun taking guesses and seeing the mystery unfold. Even if this doesn’t happen till the last hour. The movie had major pacing issues that nearly detracted from my entire experience but even then it was better than expected and I think if you go in for a fun time you will find something there.
Grade: C+
About Death On The Nile
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. Set against an epic landscape of sweeping desert vistas and the majestic Giza pyramids, this dramatic tale of love gone wrong features a cosmopolitan group of impeccably dressed travelers and enough wicked twists and turns to leave audiences guessing until the final, shocking denouement.
Death On The Nile hits theaters everywhere on February 11th.
