Death on the Nile

 

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Death on the Nile 2022

• Director: Kenneth Branagh
• Seen by this director: All Is True, Murder on the Orient Express, Cinderella, Thor, Sleuth, The Magic Flute, As You Like It, Love’s Labour’s Lost, Hamlet, In the Bleak Midwinter, Frankenstein, Much Ado about Nothing, Peter’s Friends, Dead Again, Henry V
• Based on the novel by Agatha Christie
• Cast: Tom Bateman, Annette Bening, Kenneth Branagh, Russell Brand, Letitia Wright, Sophie Okonedo, Emma Mackey, Armie Hammer, Gal Gadot, Rose Leslie, Jennifer Saunders, Dawn French
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Tom Bateman – Murder on the Orient Express, Much Ado about Nothing
• Annette Bening  – Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool, Ginger & Rosa, The Kids Are All Right, Being Julia, Mars Attacks!, Richard III, The Grifters,
• Kenneth Branagh – Tenet, All Is True, Murder on the Orient Express, Dunkirk, Wallander, My Week with Marilyn, The Boat that Rocked, Valkyria, Warm Springs, Harry Potter, Rabbit-Proof Fence, Shackleton, Hoe to Kill Your Neighbour’s Dog, The Wild Wild West, Hamlet, Othello, Frankenstein, Much Ado about Nothing, Swing Kids, Dead Again, Peter’s Friends, Henry V, Fortunes of War
• Russell Brand – The Tempest
• Letitia Wright – Wakanda Forever, Ready Player One, Black Panther, Humans, Doctor Who
• Sophie Okonedo – Wild Rose, Murder on the Orient Express, The Hollow Crown, The Slap, After Earth, Doctor Who, Skin, The Secret Life of Bees, Hotel Rwanda, Dirty Pretty Things, Go Now
• Armie Hammer – On the Basis of Sex, Hotel Mumbai, The Lone Ranger, Social Network
• Gal Gadot – Wonder Woman
• Rose Leslie – Utopia
• Jennifer Saunders - Absolutely Fabulous + Movie
• Dawn French – Little Britain, Harry Potter, David Copperfield, Absolutely Fabulous, The Young Ones
• Why? Branagh
• Seen: 23 January 2023      

       Kenneth Branagh should do Shakespeare. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it every time he does something that isn’t.

       With that established I will admit that he’s directed some good non-Shakespeare films, so I will not pre-judge this, even though I don’t enjoy Agatha Christie books.

       I won’t bother with the story. The title says enough. It’s stylish, exuberant, slyly clever, visually beautiful and filled with postcardy, gorgeously tourist sights and a few famous actors.

       On the minus side: the story is boring, there are too many people, the love intrigues are tepid and Branagh, great actor though he is, should not play Poirot.

       On the plus side: it’s just so beautiful and I like Saunders, Wright and Okonedo in their roles.

       But my first sentence stands.      

3* of 5