Shot in 2019 and originally scheduled for a December 2020 release, director and leading man Kenneth Branagh’s “Death on the Nile” finally hits theaters with an underwhelming air of “who cares?” A bookend of sorts to Branagh’s 2017 “Murder on the Orient Express,” “Death” is also based on a novel by Agatha Christie, both of which are remakes (from 1974 and 1978 respectively).
The good news first. It’s better than “Murder”—by a hair. Branagh also brings back screenwriter Michael Green (“Logan,” “Blade Runner 2049”) who tosses in a black and white opening scene not found in the novel, and it provides an excellent back story to detective Hercules Poirot’s moustache. The calling card of every actor who has played Poirot over the years (24 of them), Branagh’s moustache is elaborate as they come and deserves its own zip code. Seriously, this oversized patch of facial hair borders on the absurd.
