The Death of a Franchise

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MOVIE REVIEW
Death on the Nile
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Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Year Released: 2022
Runtime: 2h 7m
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Writer(s): Michael Green, Agatha Christie
Cast: Kenneth Branagh, Tom Bateman, Gal Gadot, Emma Mackey, Armie Hammer, Letitia Wright, Sophie Okonedo, Annette Bening, Ali Fazal, and MORE
Where To Watch: In theaters and HBO Max

An underwhelming and bloated follow-up to 2017’s MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS, and that’s being nice. It’s true; I’m probably harder on this because of how much I enjoyed the first film and the adventures of Hercule Poirot as played by Kenneth Branagh. I’ll be just as hard on the similar KNIVES OUT 2 (they better come up with a better name) and the adventures of Benoit Blanc when it arrives later this year.

Branagh had a lot going against him; in my opinion, not only did he take on the directing duties again, but he also had a decent-sized role in the film. This had to be balanced with the Herculean (pun intended) effort of balancing another all-star cast in the movie. Even the first film wasn’t universally praised, but it was “new” and had some fresh life. In the famous words of Steven Page (Barenaked Ladies), “It’s all been done before.” I felt like I was watching the first film with what I would consider a slightly lesser cast on a boat instead of a train. Maybe that’s what Agatha Christie intended initially (I have to admit I haven’t read the books), but there should've been more distinction.

The stand-out performance was Emma Mackey (SEX EDUCATION, EIFFEL) as Jacqueline de Bellefort; every time she was on screen, she commanded the audience's attention. It’s pretty ironic as she’s probably one of the lesser-known actors in the film. That may say something considering the pedigree of the cast. Maybe less is more in a situation like this. Ironically, Gal Gadot as Linnet Ridgeway, arguably the co-lead in the film, felt very out of place and one-dimensional. Armie Hammer’s portrayal of Simon Doyle was equally as stiff. I don’t think that it was terrible acting per se, but some moments were meant to be shocking, and I couldn’t help but laugh. It was a weird experience, which is a shame; I wanted to enjoy the film as much as I’m bashing it here.

I would probably be ready to write off the “who dun it” film genre. I suppose if it wasn’t for the likes of KNIVES OUT, HAIL, CAESAR!, SHERLOCK HOLMES, etc. Thankfully, enough diamonds in the rough revitalize the genre with some much-needed creativity. I can only suspect that this is probably the final blow to this generation of Agatha Christie films by Branagh. He just won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay (BELFAST), so I can’t imagine that he will be missing a lot of sleep over this miss.

I feel like the runtime for the film was too long as well; I think had it come in closer to an hour and a half instead of over two hours that it would’ve probably been a better all-around experience.

SPOILER:
Also, I feel like the “reveal” of the killer(s) was far too predictable. With no shock to me, the killer of Linnet Ridgeway Doyle (Gal Gadot) was her husband, Simon Doyle (Armie Hammer), Jacqueline de Bellefort (Emma Mackey.)

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