Post by Dracula on Jun 5, 2022 13:06:12 GMT -5
Death on the Nile(5/19/2022)
In retrospect, I think people (myself included) were a bit kinder than they should have been to 2017’s Murder on the Orient Express. It was good to see Hollywood trying to make a franchise happen that didn’t involve dudes with capes or gigantic explosions, but the movie itself wasn’t really what we hoped it would be and didn’t really hold a candle to the prior 1974 adaptation. Such mercy was not granted to that film’s sequel, Death on the Nile, which was received as a downright silly follow-up that also had the misfortune of prominently featuring an actor (Armie Hammer) who had been disgraced in the time between its filming and its pandemic delayed release early this year. I still wanted to keep hope alive that this “franchise for adults” had merit but this just isn’t it. There are a lot of issues with the film’s approach but I think it’s biggest mistake was just taking forever to finally start the titular “deaths.” It’s over an hour into the film before a muder happens sparking off the actual mystery to solve and by then the movie had already kind of lost me because most of these characters it expects us to spend time with in this first hour just aren’t that interesting outside of their status as future murder suspects. The film is also rather delusional about how much people are going to care about Hercule Poirot as a person outside of his status as a detective, giving the film a miscalculated flashback opening that has been something of a source of mockery whenever the film is discussed. I do think things pick up in the second half when there’s actually a mystery to solve. The resolution itself isn’t wildly satisfying but at least things are happening and conflict occurs, but still, it doesn’t save the movie.
** out of Five
In retrospect, I think people (myself included) were a bit kinder than they should have been to 2017’s Murder on the Orient Express. It was good to see Hollywood trying to make a franchise happen that didn’t involve dudes with capes or gigantic explosions, but the movie itself wasn’t really what we hoped it would be and didn’t really hold a candle to the prior 1974 adaptation. Such mercy was not granted to that film’s sequel, Death on the Nile, which was received as a downright silly follow-up that also had the misfortune of prominently featuring an actor (Armie Hammer) who had been disgraced in the time between its filming and its pandemic delayed release early this year. I still wanted to keep hope alive that this “franchise for adults” had merit but this just isn’t it. There are a lot of issues with the film’s approach but I think it’s biggest mistake was just taking forever to finally start the titular “deaths.” It’s over an hour into the film before a muder happens sparking off the actual mystery to solve and by then the movie had already kind of lost me because most of these characters it expects us to spend time with in this first hour just aren’t that interesting outside of their status as future murder suspects. The film is also rather delusional about how much people are going to care about Hercule Poirot as a person outside of his status as a detective, giving the film a miscalculated flashback opening that has been something of a source of mockery whenever the film is discussed. I do think things pick up in the second half when there’s actually a mystery to solve. The resolution itself isn’t wildly satisfying but at least things are happening and conflict occurs, but still, it doesn’t save the movie.
** out of Five
