"Death on the Nile" a more pleasing all-star whodunit than "Orient Express"

Death on the Nile (2022)

A superior Agatha Christie adaptation from director Kenneth Branagh, “Death on the Nile” is what “Murder on the Orient Express” should have been, detective Hercule Poirot included. As slick yet old-fashioned and classy as that 2017 all-star ensemble whodunit looked, it was ultimately a pretty dull and clumsy lark. Not bad by any means, but the film's mystery misfired without the urgency it needed, and Branagh somehow managed to underuse most of his never-ending cast on luscious production design and Poirot's mustache, a character itself. With another lavish and contained but airier setting, a more involving mystery, and a new glamorous cast to corral, “Death on the Nile” makes for a much more enjoyable high-gloss throwback.

The great Belgian detective, with a taste for an even number of bite-sized desserts, is no less of a hoot, but Kenneth Branagh deepens Hercule Poirot with a bit more emotional weight. Like the first Poirot mystery, “Death on the Nile” begins with a self-contained prologue. It's a striking black-and-white opening, set in 1914 in the trenches of WWI with a young Poirot using his strategizing talents, and also works in an origin story for that bloody 'stache. Jump ahead to 1937 and we find Poirot taking in a show at a blues club and encountering “the first act” of a love triangle: Jacqueline de Bellefort (Emma Mackey) introduces her gorgeous friend, heiress Linnet Ridgeway (a beguiling Gal Gadot), to her caddish fiancé Simon Doyle (Armie Hammer), and that turns out to be a big mistake. 

While on holiday in Egypt, Poirot runs yet again into old friend Bouc (Tom Bateman, reprising his role from the first film), who’s flying a kite on a pyramid. Bouc is there with his cynical painter mother (Annette Bening) and invites Poirot along for the honeymoon celebration between Simon and Linnet. Before boarding the SS Karnak steamer along the Nile, the guests are a motley crew. They include Linnet’s godmother Marie Van Schuyler (Jennifer Saunders) and her nurse companion Mrs. Bowers (Dawn French); boarding school classmate Rosalie (Letitia Wright), whom Bouc fancies, and her blues-singing adoptive mother Salome (Sophie Okonedo); Linnet’s ex-fiancé Dr. Bessner (an almost-unrecognizable, understated Russell Brand); and her dear cousin/lawyer Andrew Katchadourian (Ali Fazal) and personal maid Louise (Rose Leslie). Then Jacqueline arrives, and she’s very jilted and refusing to leave, making the newlyweds so uncomfortable that they employ Poirot to look after them. It’s a perfect time, of course, for a murder to occur, and only Poirot can crack the case.

“Death on the Nile” does take its time to actually get to the Nile and the death. Even so, it’s hard to resist a luxe soirée of attractive and interesting characters drinking and killing each other. Branagh works from another screenplay by Michael Green, and he’s still having a ball as Poirot. Luckily, most of his ensemble is afforded much more to do to ever be forgotten, merely stand around like a red herring, or fall victim to Poirot’s vanity project. While a few are going to inevitably have more screen time than others, everyone gets a character moment in the stacked, tip-top cast. Of the undeniable standouts, the dazzling Sophie Okonedo just about steals the entire movie with her delicious line readings and alluring, no-nonsense presence as Salome Otterbourne. Emma Mackey (Netflix's "Sex Education"), a startling Margot Robbie lookalike, is stunning on her own in her steamy dirty-dancing introduction as Jacqueline, and then exhibits shadings of sympathy and crazy emotionality even as she’s seen as the jealous, unhinged type. Longtime comedy duo Jennifer Saunders and Dawn French are lovely together, and Annette Bening provides some withering snark, too.

In spite of seeing two controversial figures in the extensive cast that don’t damage the quality of the movie itself, “Death on the Nile” is fun to watch as a well-made, if inconsequential, potboiler. The ins and outs of the whodunit mystery can be poked and scrutinized once revealed, but following the clues and deducing who the killer is from a boat full of suspects is far more satisfying and easier to get wrapped up in this time around. There are always more killers to catch and more luxurious vacations to be had, so more Poirot investigations of this quality would be much appreciated in the future.

Grade: B -

20th Century Studios is releasing “Death on the Nile” (127 min.) in theaters on February 11, 2022.