Death on the Nile

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. (19/03/2022)

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?). (11/02/2022)

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. (19/04/2022)

Death on the Nile has always had a bit of something luxurious, fantastic, and amazing within it. The adaptation with Ustinov made the brand famous. Later there was a series with Suchet. And this year, we can tick off the excellent new version with Branagh, which I waited for during the entire pandemic. For a better experience, it was of course ideal to watch the new Murder on the Orient Express (2017). I wish there were a few more wonderful feature films like this, because Branagh's relationship to the world of Agatha Christie is not only smart, but respectful and courageous at the same time. It offers eye-candy shots of the whole Nile cruise and directorial work with very interesting actors. In addition to the statuesque Gal Gadot, we get the classically perfect Annette Bening, the Jennifer Saunders and Dawn French duo… (13/02/2022)

Perhaps I liked this even more than Orient Express. Branagh is excellent as Poirot and his black and white flashback is the most powerful scene of the entire movie. Although your can hear the paper rustling as for the detective crime plot, the acting ensemble gets the very most out of it. Emma Mackey is just fantastic. And we get to see Armie the Cannibal in his last role as well. Really, really good. (10/09/2022)