I wasn't anxious to see Kenneth Branagh's version of DEATH ON THE NILE. I thought his remake of MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS was a poor imitation of Sidney Lumet's masterpiece, and his mustache awful. Previews of this movie made it apparent that he had changed mustaches, by gluing one on top of another; this made him look like Eddie Izzard. When the movie started with the Belgians going over the top against the Germans during an anachronistic gas attack in World War One, I felt even worse. Did Branagh think that stretching out the movie with Poirot's back story would make something out of a collection of tics that Agatha Christie used in place of learning how to write a character? Was this supposed to add depth to the stereotypes and make of this more than another of her perfectly plotted impossible murder mysteries? Was I going to care about any of these waxwork figures?
And by the end I did. Whether this is simply a matter of having my expectations set so very low, or Branagh's understanding of Shakespearean drama and how to supervise a flawless Nilotic location shoot, I cannot tell. Some star casting was wasted, although it's nice to see French & Saunders back together again. Gal Gadot's native Sabra accent comes and goes; Letitia Wright gets to score some points, and by the end we regret every murder, victims of their own weaknesses. And despite the awkward ending, Poirot comes off as someone more than a collection of little grey cells who wants to retire and raise vegetable marrows.
And by the end I did. Whether this is simply a matter of having my expectations set so very low, or Branagh's understanding of Shakespearean drama and how to supervise a flawless Nilotic location shoot, I cannot tell. Some star casting was wasted, although it's nice to see French & Saunders back together again. Gal Gadot's native Sabra accent comes and goes; Letitia Wright gets to score some points, and by the end we regret every murder, victims of their own weaknesses. And despite the awkward ending, Poirot comes off as someone more than a collection of little grey cells who wants to retire and raise vegetable marrows.