2.5/5 stars Kenneth Branagh is back as Agatha Christie’s famous Belgian detective Hercule Poirot for one of his most famous adventures, Death on the Nile . Five years ago, Branagh convincingly played him in Murder on the Orient Express , which he also directed. It was a huge hit and another Christie adaptation was always likely. Sadly, Death on the Nile has seen events overtake it. Delayed repeatedly by the coronavirus pandemic, it was also almost torpedoed by rape allegations concerning one of its leads, Armie Hammer. Rather than recast Hammer and reshoot, studio backers Disney are now rolling this out in the hope the ensemble nature of the cast will overshadow the Hammer scandal. At least Branagh has gathered together a distracting group of actors. Gal Gadot plays the wealthy Linnet, who steals the handsome but cash-poor Simon (Hammer) from her friend, Jacqueline (Emma Mackey). Linnet and Simon are in Egypt to cement their nuptials with a close party of friends when a distraught Jackie’s unexpected arrival forces them to take a Nile cruise. Soon there will be bloodshed, murder and suspects everywhere you look. Thankfully, Poirot is on the boat too – after encountering his old friend Bouc (Tom Bateman), who has travelled with his acid-tongued mother (Annette Bening) to join the wedding party. Others on board include a doctor (Russell Brand); Linnet’s godmother (Jennifer Saunders) and her nursemaid (Dawn French); a greedy lawyer (Ali Fazal); and Linnet’s former classmate (Letitia Wright), who accompanies her jazz-singing aunt (Sophie Okonedo). While Death on the Nile looks authentic enough – there’s a fabulous shot of Poirot taking his breakfast in front of the Pyramids as Bouc flies a kite nearby – there’s something about it all that feels rather hollow. It’s not one of Christie’s more fiendish plots, and Branagh never quite succeeds in keeping the energy up. It turns out a languid river cruise towards the Temple of Abu Simbel isn’t quite as exciting as a train ride on the Orient Express. As before, the mustachioed Branagh is compelling in the lead (“I am Hercule Poirot,” he shouts, when sniffing out a suspect, “I do not need to be told!”). Alongside him, Brand and former British double act French and Saunders all dial back their comic instincts to great success. Mackey, famed for her turn in Netflix show Sex Education , is also striking as the scorned woman. What a shame, though, that it all feels rather deathly dull. Want more articles like this? Follow SCMP Film on Facebook