Weekend Watch: Death On The Nile
Kenneth Branagh's back for another Hercule-in effort
Welcome to the latest edition of Weekend Watch, in which I recommend (or occasionally warn against) movies or TV shows I’ve been checking out. This week, Kenneth Branagh and his moustache return for more Agatha Christie-inspired death. Follow James on Twitter: @jamwhite
Kenneth Branagh has waited a long time for the release of Death On The Nile – so long, in fact, that he’s had time to make and release Belfast (which I reviewed here) in the interim. And it’s been enough time for the film to be impacted by the unfolding awkwardness of star Armie Hammer’s personal life.
Nile finds Branagh on familiar territory, as he adapted Agatha Christie before for 2017’s Murder On The Orient Express. This time, we join his spectacularly moustachioed detective Hercule Poirot as he attempts to avoid investigations and enjoy a holiday in Egypt. But wouldn’t you know it? He gets dragged into drama anyway, invited by pal Bouc (Tom Bateman) to join Linnet Ridgeway (Gal Gadot) and Simon Doyle (Hammer) on their honeymoon party.
What should be a happy time for the couple is blighted by his seething ex Jacqueline (Emma Mackey of the wonderful Sex Education), and soon they’re taking the party to the water for some unblemished celebration. You can predict what happens next, and Poirot is pressed into figuring out which of the guests is responsible for a death on board.
As with his previous stab at Christie, Branagh has loaded the cast with names – favourites for me were Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders, even if they did leave me with the nagging sensation that I was about to watch one of their spoofs – and there are a lot of well-known people clearly having fun. Letitia Wright, Sophie Okonedo, Annette Bening, Russell Brand (more subdued than usual), Rose Leslie and more glam up and look suspicious at the same time.
Branagh brings real style to the visuals too; while I think he overused the digital shots of the camera diving under the water then sweeping up to find the ship again, there’s a classiness to most of the scenes that gives this a patina of the sorts of movies “they” don’t tend to make anymore.
Problems? A weird mix of people doing accents other than their own has mixed results, and the story takes a while to get cruising. Mostly that’s because the director and writer Michael Green shoehorn in an unnecessary prequel flashing back (with requisite CG de-aged Poirot) to the detective’s days in the First World War, where his detective skills save his platoon but leave him savagely scarred. I’m not sure anyone really needed an origin story for a moustache, but you do you, Ken.
Death On The Nile will serve as solid fodder for those seeking something other than family or superhero genre entertainment but don’t expect major surprises. Which is an odd thing to say for a murder mystery…
Death On The Nile is in US and UK cinemas now.