'Mary Poppins Returns' A Review

Mary Poppins Returns is a musical family film, a sequel to 1964's Mary Poppins, about the banks children all grown up. The film opens on 1935 London and recent widower Michael Banks(Ben Whishaw) is struggling to raise his three children and is in danger of defaulting on his mortgage. With the help of his sister Jane(Emily Mortimer), the lamplighter Jack(Lin-Manuel Miranda), and most importantly the titular Mary Poppins(Emily Blunt) the Banks family may come through on top and perhaps having learned something.

Blunt gives a fair Julie Andrews impression and imbues the character with a bit more of adventure and power rather than brusk silliness that we may be accustomed. It works but it doesn't exactly capture the nanny-we-wish-we-all had of the original. Miranda also does well but suffers from the same affliction as Blunt just falling short of getting out from the shadow of the original. Both are consummate performers, the choreography, singing, and straight acting is all compelling and done exceedingly well but neither of them takes big enough swings to get a big payoff. Whishaw, with one emotional scene, is by far the stand out bringing in a depth of emotion and vulnerability that exceeds its predecessor. The kids are great, the cast is all fun with a couple surprising cameos, but in following(and delivering) a successful sequel to the classic the actors aren't given, or take, a lot of risks. Satisfying but not particularly memorable.

The narrative on the other hand balances perfectly in paying omaĝe and creating something new. The formula is the same, Mary Poppins swoops in and takes the children on a series of imaginative musical adventures with the help of her dirty but charming sidekick. But the set pieces the songs are all new with nods and winks to the original but without ever sacrificing originality. And the message is delivered just as well if not better than the original. A call for hope and imagination rather than greed and despair powerful stuff.

See It.