# Death on the Nile (another Kenneth Brannagh spectacular) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [December 24, 2021, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-on-the-nile-another-kenneth-brannagh-spectacular/956609 "2021-12-24T23:29:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![mcgato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac8455/32.png) [@mcgato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mcgato)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2022, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-on-the-nile-another-kenneth-brannagh-spectacular/956609/21 "2022-04-07T18:45:01Z")
I never read the book, and I have never seen any other version, so I watched this with no preconceptions. I thought it seemed like more of a character study of Poirot than a who-done-it. I was wondering if Branaugh was making a mystery movie or making a movie about how great he plays his character. I rarely figure out mysteries, but I guessed who was responsible for the murder and why pretty early. Maybe the original was from a simpler time of the mystery genre. Also, I never really figured out who most of the people on ship were. Was I supposed to find out something about them at some point? I felt like most of them had no back story. Conclusion: not a fan of the movie. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2022, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-on-the-nile-another-kenneth-brannagh-spectacular/956609/22 "2022-04-07T18:55:51Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > Sounds like lots of people are talking about going to see the movie, but no one came back to talk about it? I gave my two word review in the “Movies Recently Watched” thread: “Nice Boat” ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2022, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-on-the-nile-another-kenneth-brannagh-spectacular/956609/23 "2022-04-07T18:58:40Z")
The other version I saw of this was much better at hiding clues _and_ explicating characters. Branagh changed/deleted/added characters which made it much more confusing while making the mystery part more transparent. The whole movie was just a mess, frankly. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2022, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-on-the-nile-another-kenneth-brannagh-spectacular/956609/24 "2022-04-07T18:59:03Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > I gave my two word review in the “Movies Recently Watched” thread: > > “Nice Boat” Heh. 👍 ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2022, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-on-the-nile-another-kenneth-brannagh-spectacular/956609/25 "2022-04-07T19:41:57Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > And when I say ‘younger’ I mean 35-45yr olds who haven’t seen them before, not teens. This is me. I stumbled upon the new _Murder On The Orient Express_ one day and found it completely delightful. Can’t recall if I was on a plane or flipping channels one night, but this thing sucked me in completely. I preferred it to _Knives Out_ which was a hit. I proceeded to watch it a handful of times on HBO afterwards and was properly excited when I saw that a sequel was coming. Unfortunately I haven’t made time to stream the sequel yet, but it’s in my queue when life gets out of the way. Unfortunately I can’t seem to find a way to stream the first one so my wife can see it before we settle in to watch the sequel. I’m a person who has heard of Agatha Christie and the character Poirot but never read any of the stories and I don’t recall seeing any previous adaptations. In fact I didn’t know that Poirot was a Christie character until recently. So yeah, I think for people like me these movies are going to be very popular if you’re into this type of movie. The older stuff doesn’t really have much cultural resonance so these don’t really feel that derivative. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2022, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-on-the-nile-another-kenneth-brannagh-spectacular/956609/26 "2022-04-07T19:47:02Z")
> [@mcgato](#): > > Also, I never really figured out who most of the people on ship were. Was I supposed to find out something about them at some point? I felt like most of them had no back story. Yeah, until you get to Poirot interrogating them, hard to tell who is who, except the leading roles. This was really well acted, nicely cast and beautifully shot. I would love to go back in time and take a riverboat cruise on the Nile or the Orient Express during the heyday. I did like that fact, that even though it was in the 1930s, there was no smoking scenes, iirc. The mystery was just okay. Watch it for the scenery and the cast. B+ ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2022, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-on-the-nile-another-kenneth-brannagh-spectacular/956609/27 "2022-04-07T19:56:33Z")
Honestly, I don’t think you gain anything by having watched Branagh’s Murder on the Orient Express prior to seeing Death on the Nile. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2022, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-on-the-nile-another-kenneth-brannagh-spectacular/956609/28 "2022-04-07T19:59:35Z")
I wouldn’t think so, but we’re completionists with this stuff. And let’s face it, the first one is usually better than the sequel so I’d like to expose her to the one I know I liked before convincing her to watch a sequel which may or may not suck. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2022, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-on-the-nile-another-kenneth-brannagh-spectacular/956609/29 "2022-04-07T23:09:05Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > And let’s face it, the first one is usually better than the sequel I wouldn’t have thought of it as a sequel, but I guess it is in the same sense that the second James Bond movie is a sequel of the first one. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2022, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-on-the-nile-another-kenneth-brannagh-spectacular/956609/30 "2022-04-07T23:40:01Z")
There’s one character besides Poirot carried over from Orient Express. If you see Nile first it will eliminate him as a suspect in Express. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-on-the-nile-another-kenneth-brannagh-spectacular/956609.md?page=1)