Branagh Returns as Hercule Poirot in Entertaining ‘Death on the Nile’

Kenneth Branagh knows how to make a compelling and entertaining film. Granted, not all of directorial efforts have been knock-outs, but most have more than a few attributes that make them perfectly entertaining confections. And there’s nothing wrong with an entertainment. Not every film has to comment on political or social injustices. Branagh’s non-Shakespearean films (Belfast aside) most often appear to be striving for those excellently crafted and massively entertaining films so incredibly popular in the 1980s. His latest Agatha Christie adaptation, Death on the Nile, falls squarely into that realm, if with a few very noticeable missteps early in the picture.

And, no, this isn’t Branagh’s Norbit. Far from it.

Branagh returns as the legendary Hercule Poirot, the world-renown detective with a mustache as big as his detective’s intuition. I grew up with the Peter Ustinov variation of Poirot in the series of Agatha Christie adaptations that featured the great British actors of the late 1970s and early 1980s including Maggie Smith, Diana Rigg, James Mason, Roddy McDowell, and more. My personal favorite of that era remains Evil Under the Sun, a film with an inexplicably tarnished legacy despite its ridiculous rewatchability. Branagh’s debuted as Poirot in 2017’s Murder on the Orient Express, perhaps Christie’s most famous novel. That familiarity likely damped my enthusiasm for the film as I found it dry and a little flat.

However, Death on the Nile, for whatever reason, is a completely new property for me, having avoided previous adaptations and the original source novel for years. As such, I was able to go with Branagh for the ride, letting the film wash over me with its exotic setting, all-star cast, and fantastic production values including a lovely score by frequent Branagh collaborator Patrick Doyle. I suspect the least you know about the story, the better off you’ll be. To sum up, Poirot and a group of wedding guests board a honeymoon barge to cruise the Nile and take in the Egyptian historic monuments. This being an Agatha Christie adaptation, someone dies, and Poirot is tasked with solving the intricate crime.

Yet, this outing feels intensely personal for Branagh’s Poirot. Michael Green’s efficient screenplay offers an early flashback sequence that explains why he sports the cartoonish mustache and lays the groundwork for a long-lost love affair — a promise on which the film admittedly doesn’t fully deliver. But Branagh’s Poirot here is less amused detachment and far more seething anger. He’s not only a bypassing detective, he’s also a grieving side effect of the murderer’s plot. As such, the stakes here feel a little more heavy. There’s a more tangible emotional resonance than in many Christie adaptations.

Branagh’s deft directorial hand guides us through the material swiftly and provides a hugely entertaining experience. While this isn’t, of course, a wall-to-wall action film, it did remind me at times of entertainments like Raiders of the Lost Ark where having well constructed fun is the order of the day. Branagh obviously knows how to deliver complex, emotionally resonant material within and outside of his Shakespeare adaptations (Belfast being a strongly sure-footed and deeply personal film). But here, he’s just having a lot of fun, balancing a huge cast (Tom Bateman, Annette Bening, Russell Brand, Gal Gadot, Sophie Okonedo, and yes Armie Hammer among others) with skill. The standout performance for my money comes from Sophie Okonedo who, with a relatively smaller role, exudes the sultry soul of her jazz singer character and steals nearly every scene she’s in.

If there’s a flaw to the film, then it’s likely in the weirdly obvious CGI that plagues the earlier Egyptian outdoor sequences. Characters appear to stand in front of Zoom backgrounds of the pyramids rather than being fully integrated with them. At one point, Bening’s painter sets up an easel just a few hundred feet from the pyramids, yet careful viewers can clearly detect the exact point at which her soundstage setting ends and the green-screen CGI begins. I cannot imagine this artificiality holds a deliberate justification for its existence, but there it is. Still, it’s a minor one-time flaw that I quickly forgot as the film settled in on the barge, and the character’s interactions started driving the plot.

Death on the Nile is an admirable film that will find many fans with its breezy atmosphere and hugely entertaining plot. But the true star of the film is Branagh’s increasingly complex portrayal of Hercule Poirot. He’s unafraid to dive into Poirot’s internal angst and borderline rage. This quiet and assured performance is yet another sign that, despite his acclaimed success with Belfast, he’s still willing and able to shine in front of the camera. Many will consider this a minor performance, but those who do take for granted how incredibly difficult it is to play a legend.

And, in doing so, Branagh continues to reassert his status as one.

Death on the Nile premieres in theaters only on Friday, February 12.