"Murder was just the beginning."
Belgian sleuth Hercule Poirot's Egyptian vacation aboard a glamorous river steamer turns into a terrifying search for a murderer when a picture-perfect couple's idyllic honeymoon is tragically cut short.
Kenneth Branagh
Hercule Poirot
Tom Bateman
Bouc
Annette Bening
Euphemia Bouc
Russell Brand
Windlesham
Ali Fazal
Andrew Katchadourian
Dawn French
Bowers
Gal Gadot
Linnet Ridgeway
Armie Hammer
Simon Doyle
Rose Leslie
Louise Bourget
Belgian sleuth Hercule Poirot's Egyptian vacation aboard a glamorous river steamer turns into a terrifying search for a murderer when a picture-perfect couple's idyllic honeymoon is tragically cut short.
From a technical standpoint it's not bad and does feature a good cast and fine performances, but it's also rather predictable (kind of called the twist early on) and it's fairly slow to the point it I was losing interest (even though it's less than two hours long sans credits). Only glad I watched this for free on HBO Max as this was a one-time viewing for me (as was Branagh's Murder on the Orient Express, which I found only mildly entertaining but also overlong). **2.75/5**
I honestly did not expect much out of this movie given how Branagh’s Murder on the Orient Express turned out. Now, Hercule Poirot together with Sherlock Holmes are my two favourite fictional detectives and I’m obviously having strong opinions about the subject. If you liked the movie then fine but this is my personal opinions so… here we go. Just as with Murder on the Orient Express it could have been a decent mystery/crime movie if it had not pretended to be a Hercule Poirot movie but again this was a miserable attempt to make a Americanized version of Hercule Poirot. The movie starts off with black and white scenes from World War I trying to make him out to be some war hero. There was no reason for that and it is not Hercule Poirot. One good thing I can write about the movie is that there are some lovely scenery, especially at the beginning. Unfortunately that is about it as far as the good parts go from my point of view. Apart from the good scenery the film goes overboard trying to get fancy with the camera. Like the ridiculous revolving scenes on the boat, bizarre perspectives and quite a few too dark and gloomy scenes. The worst part of the movie is that it is totally disrespectful of the Hercule Poirot that Agatha Christie created. Poirot does NOT run after criminals while shots are being fired, Poirot may scream but with dignity, not soap opera like outbursts. He was not the only one having unbecoming outbursts by the way. And do not get me started about how the movie ruined the famous end scene where Poirot traditionally exposes the criminal by having Poirot waving a gun and appearing totally dishevelled. Even the hideously large moustache is just all wrong. Death on the Nile is a British mystery novel by one of the most famous mystery writers ever, not some pulp fiction that you can put your own spin on but Kenneth Branagh does not seem to realize this.
**For a movie with death in the title, it takes way too long for the mystery to begin. Bore on the Nile.** Death on the Nile waits almost an hour into the movie before there is an actual death... a murder mystery that is focused much more on the shallow lives of its wealthy aristocrats rather than solving the murder mystery. The mystery is fairly stereotypical and easy to figure out. The film is dreadfully slow, making the 2 hour run time feel more like 3 hours. If you enjoyed Murder on the Orient Express, you would probably enjoy the expanded characterization of Kenneth Branagh's Hercule Poirot amidst the spectacular set pieces and wardrobe of the 1930s. Mix in superstar Gal Gadot and some other up-and-coming talented actors and Death on the Nile rises from absolute bore to tolerable. _As a total bonus - Kenneth Branagh's mustache in this movie is a work of art in and of itself! That thing is amazing!_
Death on the Nile has a prologue set in World War I, where a young Hercule Poirot is played by a digitally ‘de-aged’ Kenneth Branagh. Et tu, Kenneth? If you must do this, why not get a younger actor who looks likes Branagh? Or even one who doesn’t look like the Northern Irish writer/director/actor, so long as he looks like an actual human being; it’s safe to say that Branagh looks neither like himself nor like a member of the human race (he actually looks less grotesque after an explosion disfigures one side of his face). Again, this is only if you must do this – but then, you mustn’t do it, especially considering that this prologue exists only, and I kid you not, as an origin story for Poirot’s mustache. In order to catch up with Branagh’s current appearance, the character then ages some 40 years in the space of about two decades, and in the interim it’s the world around him that has received a digital facelift – in particular Egypt, whose entire topography and everything in it, including flora, fauna, bodies of water, architecture, historical landmarks, etc., etc., has been computer-generated, and very crudely at that. They should have called this Death on Denial, because based on the evidence of this movie, the Nile isn’t a river in Egypt – or a river at all, nor Egypt a place that bears any resemblance to any known landscape that can be found on planet Earth. As for the actual plot, who cares? It's impossible to believe in the existence of these characters as real persons because they're all clearly actors standing in front of green screens, and the "Death" of the title is rendered meaningless because it takes place in a lifeless world. Even an Agatha Christie murder mystery – nay, especially an Agatha Christie murder mystery demands a plausible backdrop, and in that sense a matte painting, rear projection, miniatures, any number indeed of practical special effects would offer a much more tangible setting for this story – the next best thing, as a matter of fact, to actually shooting on location (which admittedly is not always feasible).
Decidedly more electric than Murder on the Orient Express, but much sloppier. Can’t believe the “enough champagne to fill the nile” clip was unedited from the movie for the trailer, wild stuff. Had a good time at the theater 🥂
One of my favorite actors Gal Gadot, but this movie was really disappointing. The graphics were amazing, was really lovely to see Egypt like that. But again, no substitue for not having a good story. They tried to convolute the plot with so many twists it just got rediculous and the ending was so "been there done that" (no spoilers). The 1980's one I watched, with Carey Fisher was better.
An opulent beach resort provides a scenic background to this amusing whodunit as Poirot attempts to uncover the nefarious evildoer behind the strangling of a notorious stage star.
In Acapulco, Hercule Poirot attends a dinner party in which one of the guests clutches his throat and suddenly dies. The causes seem to be natural until another party with most of the same guests produces another corpse.
In 1935, when his train is stopped by deep snow, detective Hercule Poirot is called on to solve a murder that occurred in his car the night before.
At the insistence of Ruth Van Rydock, an old schoolfriend who is convinced that there is something wrong, Miss Marple agrees to visit 'Stonygates', the country house of Ruth's sister.
Genius Belgian detective Hercule Poirot investigates the murder of an American tycoon aboard the Orient Express train.
Raimund Gregorius, having saved a beautiful Portuguese woman from leaping to her death, stumbles upon a mesmerizing book by a Portuguese author, which compels him to suddenly abandon the boring life he has led for years and to embark on an enthralling adventure. In search of the author, Gregorius acts as detective, pulling together pieces of a puzzle that involves political and emotional intrigue and the highest possible stakes. His voyage is one that transcends time and space, delving into the realms of history, medicine and love, all in search of true meaning to his life.
Mary Morstan has received a pearl in the post every year since her father's disappearance. This leads Holmes and Watson to the truth about a secret pact between four convicts during the Indian Rebellion of 1857.
Holmes and Watson board a passenger train bound from London to Edinburgh, to guard the Star of Rhodesia, an enormous diamond worth a fortune belonging to an elderly woman of wealth; but within the first hour of the trip, the woman's son is murdered and the diamond stolen and any of the passengers in their car could be the killer thief.
1934. Private detective Miranda Green investigates a murder perpetrated in the British Embassy in Cairo, where a top secret document was stolen, risking to jeopardize both Buckingham Palace and the peace of the world. All those present in this closed place are suspected: the American photographer, the English student, the American actress, the Egyptian security guard, the ambassador interpreter, the Egyptian gardener and - why not? — the Ambassador himself. But who would have expected that a small group of Nazis would be behind a plot, risking to jeopardize both Buckingham Palace and the peace of the world?
Now a detective-for-hire like her infamous brother, Enola Holmes takes on her first official case to find a missing girl, as the sparks of a dangerous conspiracy ignite a mystery that requires the help of friends — and Sherlock himself — to unravel.