Alright, so today, we are going to do a final movie review at least for this week. It is a remake of an old film of the same name from 1978. The one, and only, Death On The Nile.
Plot: When a married couple (Armie Hammer, and Gal Gadot), a friend of theirs (Emma Mackay), a detective (Kenneth Branagh), and some other people board a cruise ship called the S.S. Karnak that goes to Egypt, it is revealed, at some point, that someone aboard the ship murdered one of the passengers. Now, can detective Hercule Poirot, and others find the culprit before the voyage is over?
Well, what can I say? First of all, Kenneth Branagh did a good job with the choice for the score. Patrick Doyle does well worth integrating music of the early 1930s with Arab music that would most likely play in Egypt. For someone who may be well known for scoring in family films, as well as using Irish music (such as movies like 1998’s Quest For Camelot, and 2012’s Brave), Death On The Nile was a welcome change for him to change his style of music. Additionally, the film is very intense at times. Sure, unlike other murder mystery films of this type, this one was more dialogue than action, but still. Also, how could you not give props to detectives like the one in this one for not jumping to conclusions right away, but was willing to dig deeper in situations before giving final verdicts, you know? I can’t imagine how difficult such a job could be sometimes. Also, how could you not appreciate the acting, from Kenneth Branagh, who also directed this film, to Arnie Hammer, Gal Gadot, and others. Man, Gal Gadot especially was great playing a different type of role from what she did in the recent Wonder Woman films. And wow, the cinematography is breathtaking in this film, especially as the audience gets to watch our characters sail through Egypt.
Still, even if all the above pros help make this film decent, Death On The Nile is probably not one of the best films to date. First off, the movie seems to be start off being a little too slower paced for the first 20-25 minutes, followed by getting the story going more. As a result, the story doesn’t seem to feel as strong as it likely could have been in the end. Plus, not nearly as many of the characters are as fleshed out as they could have been. What’s more is that you don’t seem to understand the motives of all the characters. Yes, some of them, you do, but the changes with some of them didn’t seem to make sense entirely, you know? Additionally, near the end you may find yourself believing the story to feel rather convoluted. Because of this, it seems to make a good majority of the film rather depressing more often than not. I mean at least with films like say the Sherlock Holmes films that featured Robert Downey Jr., at least those were mystery films that seemed to have more substance, and feel a little more uplifting. Not sure the same can be said about this new Death On The Nile.
And that’s my review for 2022’s Death On The Nile. Overall, is it a bad film? No! In fact, one could go so far as to say that it is worth seeing at least just to learn lessons like why things like murder, greed, and many other bad qualities of the sort are wrong. Having said that, however, this newer Death On The Nile isn’t one of those films that you might find yourself eagerly wanting to rewatch over, and over again after the first watch. Still, definitely see it at least once, and see what you think of this film!
Final Grade: C+
Matthew’s Animated & Live-Action Movie Reviews 