
Death on the Nile
★★☆☆☆


Directed by
Kenneth Branagh
Produced by Ridley Scott, Kevin J. Walsh, Kenneth Branagh, and Judy Hofflund
Screenplay by Michael Green
Based on the novel by Agatha Christie
With: Kenneth Branagh, Tom Bateman, Annette Bening, Gal Gadot, Armie Hammer, Russell Brand, Ali Fazal, Jennifer Saunders, Dawn French, Rose Leslie, Emma Mackey, Sophie Okonedo, and Letitia Wright
Editing: Úna Ní Dhonghaíle
Music: Patrick Doyle
Runtime: 127 min
Release Date: 11 February 2022
Aspect Ratio: 2.39 : 1
Color
Produced by Ridley Scott, Kevin J. Walsh, Kenneth Branagh, and Judy Hofflund
Screenplay by Michael Green
Based on the novel by Agatha Christie
With: Kenneth Branagh, Tom Bateman, Annette Bening, Gal Gadot, Armie Hammer, Russell Brand, Ali Fazal, Jennifer Saunders, Dawn French, Rose Leslie, Emma Mackey, Sophie Okonedo, and Letitia Wright
Runtime:
127 min
Release Date: 11 February 2022
Color/Aspect: Color / 2.39 : 1
Cinematography:
Haris ZambarloukosRelease Date: 11 February 2022
Color/Aspect: Color / 2.39 : 1
Editing: Úna Ní Dhonghaíle
Music: Patrick Doyle
Runtime: 127 min
Release Date: 11 February 2022
Aspect Ratio: 2.39 : 1
Color

Death on the Nile
★★☆☆☆

Since his 1996 Hamlet, Kenneth Branagh has been using the 70mm format to create some of the gaudiest, most artificial looking images ever made for the big screen. His latest overproduced, candy-colored, all-star literary adaptation is no exception. If he shot this on location in Egypt you'd never know it; it contains as many obvious green-screen shots as The Phantom Menace. Branagh brings as much empty swagger to his direction as to his interpretation of Agatha Christie’s moustachioed Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. His busy camera swoops, booms and darts around the set, even diving under the digital water to show us CGI fish and other cartoon animals.
The 1978 John Guillermin/Anthony Shaffer adaptation of this novel was far from a masterpiece, but the cast was a lot more credible and enjoyable. No one in this version gives a bad performance, but neither do they persuasively inhabit their characters. The movie is all shiny surfaces with nothing of substance underneath. Oh well, at least the fake boat looks a little more plausible than the fake train in Branagh's 2017 Murder on the Orient Express.
Twitter Capsule:
Branagh's latest overproduced, all-star literary adaptation continues his grand tradition of making 70mm films in which every shot looks like a laptop screen saver. Cast inhabits the setting (and the characters) about as credibly as in a CGI superhero movie.
The real joy in a Christie adaptation is spending downtime with glamourous, elaborately costumed stars playing her exaggerated characters. We need to be with them while they're just sitting around in order to appreciate their personalities, observe their behaviours, and soak up the setting. We just can't do that while flying along the side of the boat with the camera every few minutes.
Twitter Capsule:
Branagh's latest overproduced, all-star literary adaptation continues his grand tradition of making 70mm films in which every shot looks like a laptop screen saver. Cast inhabits the setting (and the characters) about as credibly as in a CGI superhero movie.
Directed by
Kenneth Branagh
Produced by Ridley Scott, Kevin J. Walsh, Kenneth Branagh, and Judy Hofflund
Screenplay by Michael Green
Based on the novel by Agatha Christie
With: Kenneth Branagh, Tom Bateman, Annette Bening, Gal Gadot, Armie Hammer, Russell Brand, Ali Fazal, Jennifer Saunders, Dawn French, Rose Leslie, Emma Mackey, Sophie Okonedo, and Letitia Wright
Editing: Úna Ní Dhonghaíle
Music: Patrick Doyle
Runtime: 127 min
Release Date: 11 February 2022
Aspect Ratio: 2.39 : 1
Color
Produced by Ridley Scott, Kevin J. Walsh, Kenneth Branagh, and Judy Hofflund
Screenplay by Michael Green
Based on the novel by Agatha Christie
With: Kenneth Branagh, Tom Bateman, Annette Bening, Gal Gadot, Armie Hammer, Russell Brand, Ali Fazal, Jennifer Saunders, Dawn French, Rose Leslie, Emma Mackey, Sophie Okonedo, and Letitia Wright
Runtime:
127 min
Release Date: 11 February 2022
Color/Aspect: Color / 2.39 : 1
Cinematography:
Haris ZambarloukosRelease Date: 11 February 2022
Color/Aspect: Color / 2.39 : 1
Editing: Úna Ní Dhonghaíle
Music: Patrick Doyle
Runtime: 127 min
Release Date: 11 February 2022
Aspect Ratio: 2.39 : 1
Color
How I Rate Films
★★★★★
One of the 5000 greatest films. Usually only awarded after repeat viewings, so there are more five-star films from decades past than recent years.
★★★★☆
An excellent film. Possibly one of the 5000 and certainly worthy of repeated viewing.
★★★☆☆
A good film well worth seeing. Films listed at the top of this ranking could end up one of the 5000.
★★☆☆☆
A disappointment, an interesting failure, or just a bad movie. Still, maybe worth seeing: I often enjoy the top two-star films in a given list more than the bottom three-star films.
★☆☆☆☆
A bad, rant-worthy film. Should be avoided regardless of hype or talent involved.
☆☆☆☆☆
One of the worst films.
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