Death on the Nile

While attempting to vacation in Egypt crack detective Hercule Poirot (Kenneth Branagh) finds himself caught up in a murder mystery aboard a luxury ship cruising the Nile. Using only his wits and power of reason and deduction it’s clear Hercule must expose the killer before more carnage is spread. Written by Michael Green based on Agatha Christie’s Novel and Directed by Kenneth Branagh, this star studded cast including Gal Gadot, Armie Hammer, Annette Bening, and Russell Brand certainly seems to move at a swifter pace than it’s predecessor, Murder on the Orient Express (2017), but, at a sacrifice of tonality and balance in character development. What looked good on the page in Christie’s original source material just fails to make the leap to the screen, several key moments with Gal Gadot (not necessarily her fault) stand out as sore artistic choices, perhaps a more judicious razor should have been brought to the editing room; this becomes even more apparent as the runtime creeps to two hours and seven minutes, a bit overstayed. Still for Branagh’s Poirot, there’s a whimsical charm to the unfaltering art deco gumshoe, he’s fun to watch, flawed as the film may be. Maybe a consideration for a rental later. Death on the Nile is rated PG-13.