Death on the Nile

With the success of “Knives Out,” it was a matter of time before Hollywood began spawning more ensemble whodunits. So why not return to a master – Agatha Christie? The 2022 remake of “Death on the Nile” has diversity to please modern audiences, but the ending is more like a Shakespearean tragedy (plus there’s a couple of head-scratching plot holes). Tortured genius Detective Poirot (Kenneth Branagh) is trying to complete an investigation, but bodies keep piling up. Whodunit? Who’s left? Gal Gadot is a shimmering light of a co-star, but there’s too much brooding darkness in this classy but somber production.

Wonder Woman

I could spend half the night crafting an argument that “Wonder Woman” (2017) is a metaphor for Cold War geopolitics, but this blog is not called “One Million Word Reviews” (thankfully). So let’s start by saying it’s a pretty good action movie and a pretty good setup for a bunch of lucrative sequels. I’ll bypass all the Girl Power raving because that ground has been heavily trod by others. I will say that special effects and the Hollywood business model have both evolved to the point that a female action hero franchise is plausible, and its novelty makes it refreshing.