Death on the Nile: The crime classic in the criticism
from Nils Ahrensmeier 
on February 07, 2022, 15:00 | 4 comments
With “Death on the Nile” Kenneth Branagh brings his second adaptation of an Agatha Christie crime classic to cinemas. We have already been able to see and rate the film.
Once again, master detective Hercule Poirot has to solve a mysterious murder, which this time takes place on a river cruise on the Nile. A married couple is celebrating the end of their honeymoon on the steamer when the murder occurs. Poirot takes on the case, but quickly realizes that every fellow passenger could have a motive and a secret.
As in the first adaptation, the cast is again top-class. As the main actor, the director himself, Kenneth Branagh, is used again (known, among other things, as Gilderoy Lockhart from Harry Potter). Next to him are Gal Gadot (also known as Wonder Woman) or Annette Bening (from Capitan Marvel).
Currently, one could use a detective like Poirot, who always keeps a cool head in times of fake news and disinformation and does not panic. But also the narcissistic "I'm the best detective ever" and "there is only truth or lies" comes up again and again in the film. The evening before my viewing, I watched the first film adaptation “Murder on the Orient Express” from 2017 again to familiarize myself with the main actor.
Image: The Walt Disney Company
One can argue about the interpretation of Hercule Poirot, but since I don't know the film adaptation from the 70s, I can't and don't want to judge about it. He pleasantly struck me as a quiet, reserved combiner with that certain something. Anyone who has seen Murder on the Orient Express will quickly notice the tics like the identical breakfast eggs or not being able to stand crooked ties and collars, which can also be found again.
I liked the interpretation of Murder on the Orient Express at the time, but something bothered me at the time. It wasn't a clear criticism like "Cast didn't convince" or "The camera is too dynamic". It was a mixture of "detail errors", not completely convincing computer animations and the top-class cast, which only got little space for their individual roles. In other words – wasted potential.
Death on the Nile: A Golden Hollywood Crime
I think that's a lot better in comparison to "Death on the Nile". The implementation seems a lot better thought out, there are little to no mistakes in the crime thriller and the cast is finally given a lot more space. The best actors are useless if they don't get screen time to develop their role. The tracking shots are impressive, but are disturbed by pyramids or palm trees that sometimes look cheap. There are several interesting rides out of the water, over people or through objects. In general, one notices this classic "Golden Hollywood" in the film, many elaborate, glittering costumes, with jazz bars and blues music. In general, I liked the sound and the music, it supported the film well at the crucial points.
Image: The Walt Disney Company
For someone like me, who didn't know the novel and therefore went into the film with a completely unbiased mind, will have a lot of fun with the thriller. Above all, the plot was not easy to understand, which caused constant tension. This was mainly due to many false leads and subplots. For someone who knows the novel and the crime thriller, they might enjoy the remake. But perhaps bothered by the reinterpretation of some things like Poirot. On the whole, however, I can recommend the film, which threw me out of the cinema with an emotional, cold feeling.
Death on the Nile can be seen in German cinemas from February 10th.
Death on the Nile seen yesterday, the film was good, exciting, didn't know who the killer was until the end
Reviews from the “Influencer” generation. That gives me, old school, a tummy ache. Rightly so, as it turns out again. So you know neither the 70s movies nor the novels. And that's how the criticism reads. Not a clue about anything, and a whole lot of it. Your generation should read a book again, it's the page-turning things, and letters. By the way, both detectives, the one you don't know from the 70s, like the new one, are now interpreted completely differently. You know that if you know the novels and the movies.
Hi Uwe,
Thank you for the criticism of my article.
I probeer both my generation, which is rather "inexperienced" with the cinema, so also pick up experienced cinema-goers. I also mentioned that I didn't see the 70s interpretation and therefore only included my 2022 experiences in the article.
Kind regards
Nils
Hello, it might have helped to watch an episode of the series Agatha Christie's Poirot with David Suchet. The best Poirot ever.