Death on the Nile (2022)

User Review

• 

  Barneyonmovies

  7 / 10

  WHAT I LIKED: You know exactly what you're getting with Kenneth Branagh's 'Death on the Nile.' Just like its predecessor, it's an utterly star-studded murder mystery - complete with lavish location, beautiful costumes, absurd accents, and, most crucially, a mystery plot behind all of that to keep you hooked as you long to find out whodunit.
  
  In this case it's the tale of a rich woman (Gal Gadot) on her honeymoon (Armie Hammer) cruise down the Nile alongside a jealous ex-lover (Emma Mackay) and a bunch of other suspicious aquintances. It's all inevitably interrupted by a murder, which leads to the reveal of hatreds and enemies and the uncovering of numerous secrets, and we follow all of that through the eyes of Inspector Piorot - once again played brilliantly and ridiculously by both Branagh and a very elaborate piece of facial furniture (which this time around gets its own origin story).
  
  That's all very engaging, but there's also a vague character through-line in this one about the price of love, and that elevates it slightly above what you might expect. Poirot has previously been a relatively impenetrable man, but he gets some development here, and his coldness rather neatly links thematically to the unfolding narrative.
  
  WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: That thematic through-line does agreeably make it a little easier to see the reveals coming, as does the slightly less-than-intricate plotting.
  
  VERDICT: Kenneth Branagh's 'Death on the Nile,' is exactly what you think it's going to be; a dazzling, fun and engaging whoddunit with a little character flair to boot.

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