Joe Wu

I am a fan of Agatha Christie's works, but I am also open to new interpretations or changes that would enrich the plot story when it comes to the screen adaptation. It doesn't have to be a 100% exact adaptation of the book, as long as it channels the spirit of Agatha Christie's writing. I enjoyed Murder on the Orient Express, and I had high hope for this movie. But I found Death on the Nile completely intolerable! I enjoyed the 2/3 of the movie despite so many changes (I know most reviewers here are upset by the "wokeness" elements added in the movie, such as gay characters or racism issues that are not in the book, but I am fine with it since the way they presented it is still pretty relevant to the time period; the gay couple is discreet, as most of them at that time. So it's not something to upset about for me), but after the third murder, everything went downhill. Here's the thing. I realized that Kenneth Branagh's Poirot is not about the great Hercule Poirot solving crimes. No! It's about Hercule Poirot's journey of self-(re)discovery! And it sucks! Poirot was portrayed as a very arrogant man in the movie (a typical problematic white man; another wokeness element added in the movie). He was less sympathetic towards his suspects during his investigation, accusing one after another, and after the case, he was forced to embrace his flaws as a human that he tries to hide behind his big mustache and arrogance. How does it affect the story? Usually, when it comes to revealing the murderers, the climax of the story, Poirot will raise questions that puzzled him about the case, and then carefully solves it before naming the culprits. It's the moment for Poirot to show off his ability, his little grey cells! But we were robbed from that climax in this movie. Poirot, having been called out as a big-mouthed narcissistic, and is filled with guilt over the third murder, delivers the murderer in the most anti-climactic way that one can possibly imagine!!

This show is beyond my expectation! The plot story, the dialogue, the music, the acting, the casts--everything was extraordinary!!! I love it so much!