#MovieReview: Death on the Nile is bloated but enjoyable

Death on the Nile is a richly observed, if bloated, love letter to the grand scale adventure films of old.

Nile is the most recent adaptation of Agatha Christie’s famed Hercule Poirot series, which largely shaped the whodunit genre in the century since its release.

It follows the largely forgettable Murder on the Orient Express (2017), both of which have been directed by Kenneth Branagh, who also happens to play Poirot.

Branagh’s direction is heavy handed, showing a fandom to the source material which does not suit the intricacies of the detective mystery, but a gleeful performance often saves him from himself.

Despite a loaded cast, stunning visuals and an attempt to diversify the source material, Nile is poorly paced and likely to be more memorable as Armie Hammer’s first film post-cancellation.

Spoilers to follow

Aside from a non-sequitur black and white vignette to open the film, Nile finds itself in mid-1930s colonial Egypt.

Hercule Poirot is holidaying in desert paradise when he runs into an old friend, Bouc (Tom Bateman).

Through Bouc, Poirot is introduced to newlyweds Linnet (Gal Gadot) and Simon (Armie Hammer) who plan to honeymoon on the SS Karnak riverboat which is going to traipse down the Nile.

Hammer is cast as a handsome, deviant charmer who engineers his way into the middle of a love triangle, winning double the adoring affection.

It makes for uncomfortable watching given the revelations of Hammer’s sexual predation since the film’s production, but one can hardly blame Nile for that.

Linnet and Simon later find themselves on the riverboat with a travelling cast of high society rogues and their hired help.

It is a veritable who’s who of potential murderers once the film’s central crime is later discovered.

Herein lies one of Nile’s central issues, in that the titular death only occurs almost an hour into the runtime.

Every character is introduced in a meandering finger-pointing manner which is great for intentional muddying of the waters, but leaves the second half of Nile feeling unnecessarily frantic by comparison.

Nevertheless, once the murder is discovered, the film establishes the thematic elements more commonly recognised in Christie’s work.

Everyone on board is a suspect and only the great Poirot can find the real murderer in the bunch.

Naturally, there are a multitude of twists and turns before Nile’s denouement can be reached and that remains the strength of the film.

When not overly worried about trying to be both The Maltese Falcon and Cleopatra, Nile exists on its own merits and is a mostly enjoyable watch.

The ensemble cast is generally solid, while the combined CGI and practical effects make for visuals on a scale nearly as epic as the mighty Nile itself.

Do not expect a masterpiece, but go in with open arms and you might just feel as if Branagh’s love letter is addressed directly to you.

Rated PG13 for violence, some bloody images and sexual material.
3/5.

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