It's love. It’s not a game played fair.
This second adaptation of an Agatha Christie Poirot novel starring and directed by Kenneth Branagh has been long delayed due to Disney's acquisition of 20th Century Fox and the pandemic and since that time several members of it's cast have proved to be controversial figures. Personally I think it's unfair to judge a movie on what it's cast have done/said since it was filmed so I'm not going to here.
Poirot is invited by his friend Bouc (Tom Bateman) to join the wedding party of wealthy Linnet (Gal Gadot) and new husband Simon Doyle. Linnet is worried for her safety, especially as Simon's ex-fiancée Jackie (Emma Mackey) keeps turning up wherever they go. In a bid to escape her Linnet hires a paddle boat and takes the wedding party on a cruise down the Nile but despite Poirot's presence a murder takes place.
The film takes a long time to actually get to the first murder but I actually think that works in it's favour. It works far better than Murder on the Orient Express did because we get to spend far more time with the characters. The mystery isn't really one of Christie's best but it works well enough and the confined setting adds a great element of tension.
The cast isn't quite as starry as the previous film but we still have plenty of big names. Gal Gadot has received a fair bit of criticism for her performance here which seemed unfair to me- it's not exactly Oscar-worthy but equally I didn't think it was terrible. Emma Mackey is a highlight, Russell Brand surprised me by being unrecognisable )in looks and performance) and the supporting cast contains quite a few British actors well known for their TV roles that are perhaps less well known outside the UK. It was particularly great to see Jennifer Saunders and Dawn French acting together in straight roles.
Branagh's Poirot is explored further here including with a prologue set during the First World War using de-aging technology. Many have described this as the origin story of the moustache which it kind of is but it actually helps to add some background and interest to the detective. The film also finds a way to make this story affect Poirot which I thought was really effective and continues with the theme of this iteration being a more emotional detective.
I thought this was a decent if not perfect adaptation of Christie's novel and it's enough to make me want to see Branagh as Poirot for another mystery.
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