Death on the Nile movie review

MOVIE TITLE: Death on the Nile

This whodunnit period drama is now playing in theaters nationwide

RATING: PG-13

LENGTH: 2 hours 7 minutes

IN A NUTSHELL:

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 tale of unbridled passion and incapacitating jealousy features a cosmopolitan group of impeccably dressed travelers, and enough wicked twists and turns to leave audiences guessing until the final, shocking denouement.

While many viewers will compare this remake to the 1978 Death On The Nile, there will still be many more viewers who never saw the first film attempt, nor read the book by Agatha Christie. The gorgeous Gal Gadot will be enough to draw them into watching it.

This is a sequel of sorts to the 2017 movie Murder on the Orient Express. I really enjoyed that film but I liked this one even better.

THINGS I LIKED:

The cast is absolutely fantastic. Every one of them knocked it out of the park. The talented team includes Kenneth Branagh, Gal Gadot, Armie Hammer, Tom Bateman, Academy Award nominee Annette Bening, Emma Mackey, Russell Brand, Ali Fazal, Jennifer Saunders, Dawn French, Letitia Wright, Sophie Okonedo, and Rose Leslie.
Gal Gadot is simply stunning. Because she was previously in the Israeli military before becoming an actress, some Islamic countries are refusing to allow the movie to be released due to some comments she made that are offensive to Muslims.
I hadn’t seen British comedienne Jennifer Saunders in anything in years, so it was lovely to see her again. I’m not sure why she was selected to do an American accent, while American actress, Annette Benning, was asked to do a British accent, but they both did a really great job! Jennifer Saunders plays a serious role in this film, along with a fellow comedienne, Dawn French, both stating it was hard to stay serious the entire time. In England, “French & Saunders” has been a famous comedy team since the 1980s.
We often think of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) as a new discovery; however, the term was actually coined by Carl Westphal, a German psychiatrist back in 1877. Poirot could easily be identified as having OCD. Watch how he behaves by straightening out the feet of one of the victims and obsessing over his dessert. One of the other characters even calls him “obsessive”. We definitely get to learn more about Poirot and see a softer side of his personality. Kenneth Branagh does a fantastic job and I absolutely adore him as an actor and director.
There are a few twists. I love twists.
If you watched Murder on the Orient Express, look for the Easter eggs in this film which reference that one!
Jewelry lovers will be thrilled to see a replica of the Tiffany Yellow Diamond in the film. The real diamond has been worn by Audrey Hepburn in ads for the movie Breakfast at Tiffany’s, as well as by Lady Gaga at the 2019 Oscars, and Beyonce in a Tiffany ad campaign in 2021. Tiffany & Co. designed other pieces for the movie as well.
Beautiful cinematography and vibrant color grading.
There are a lot of really great lines in the script.
The locations and set designs will make you feel like you just got to travel to an exotic destination without getting sand on your feet.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

It takes an entire hour to build up characters and provide backstories. An hour! Some scenes just last too long, such as the dance scenes and character backstories.
I’m intrigued by WWI, so I enjoyed the pre-title sequence, but I readily admit it wasn’t entirely necessary to propel the story forward. Agatha Christie, herself, did not include any of this backstory in her book Agatha Christie’s Death on the Nile. It was all fabricated for this movie. I did get a kick out of the origin story of Poirot’s gigantic mustache though!
I also admit that I got tired of waiting to see who was going to be murdered or who would be next.
Purist fans of the original book might not like the changes that are made to the characters or the plot.
There are some obvious green screen moments like when we first see Poirot sitting in front of an Egyptian pyramid.
Some viewers won’t appreciate the woke additions to the script and cast.