Read Nikki's review of Mary Poppins Returns.
In Disney’s “Mary Poppins Returns,” an all new original musical and sequel, Mary Poppins is back to help the next generation of the Banks family find the joy and wonder missing in their lives following a personal loss. Emily Blunt (“A Quiet Place,” “The Girl on the Train”) stars as the practically-perfect nanny with unique magical skills who can turn any ordinary task into an unforgettable, fantastic adventure and Lin-Manuel Miranda (“Hamilton,” “Moana”) plays her friend Jack, an optimistic street lamplighter who helps bring light—and life—to the streets of London. “Mary Poppins Returns” is directed by Rob Marshall (“Into the Woods,” “Chicago”).
Mary Poppins Returns is in theaters on December 19th, 2018.
Wow! 54 years later and Mary Poppins gets a sequel. ‘Mary Poppins Returns’ finally hits theatres this week. I was a little skeptical and nervous for this sequel, given that Mary Poppins is one Walt’s greatest achievements. However, Mary Poppins Returns feels very much like the first movie. This movie is both very new but also very familiar to the Walt Disney classic.
The story takes place twenty years after the first film. Bank’s children are grown up and have forgotten their magical experiences as children with their nanny. Michael Banks (Ben Whishaw) now has three children of his own, Anabel (Pixie Davies), John (Nathanael Saleh) and Georgie (Joel Dawson). However, he is now raising the children with the help of his sister (Emily Mortimer) and their longtime housekeeper (Julie Walters) due to the death of his wife. He is at risk of losing their house to foreclosure on Cherry Tree Lane, unless he can find the certificate that proves his father left them shares in the bank. Mary Poppins(Emily Blunt) then makes her grand entrance and helps look out for the children while taking them on marvelous adventures with Jack the lamplighter (Lin-Manuel Miranda).
Emily Blunt is phenomenal, delivering a showstopping performance. She really makes Mary Poppins her own with her prim and proper exterior while bringing a distant sort of playfulness to the character. Lin-Manuel Miranda also did a fantastic job, following Dick Van Dyk’s footsteps in being a lamplighter. It’s very clear that Blunt and Miranda had a lot of fun working together. I also really enjoyed the surprise cameos (don’t worry, I won’t spoil). The 2D animation had me smiling from ear to ear with their tiny subtle animation choices and nods to classic Disney 2D animation. I was very excited to see those adorable penguin waiters once more!
While I’m super happy about the performances of everyone included, the only major problem I had with the film was the music. The music was very fun and lovely, but none of the songs are memorable. There was maybe one song in the movie that lingered with me but none captured the same magic as songs in the original like ‘Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious’, which kind of makes me sad because Disney is usually really good with having amazing soundtracks. One more thing that I wasn’t too fond of was a dance sequence with BMX bikes. I didn’t really understand why BMX bikes were put into a movie that wasn’t set in the 2000s, i was really odd and didn’t feel part of the film.
I really enjoyed this movie and I think everyone who goes out to see it will leave the theatre with a smile on their face. It was very delightful to watch and really brings in the Disney magic we all know and love.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Nikki (Contributor) is a Chicago Native who loves watching movies (some definitely more than once). Her favorite genres include Thrillers and Dramas. When she's not at the movies you can most likely find her at a live concert, singing along to a Disney classic or binge watching Netflix.Click Here to check out Nikki's Articles.