Written by Tom Moore
I’ve been dreading seeing Mary Poppins Returns for the simple reason of not wanting to support Disney in creating unnecessary sequels and live-action remakes of films that just don’t need them. Frankly, just about every one of these live-action remakes and sequels hasn’t impressed me. They either never live up to their animated originals or just feel like worthless cash-grabs. However, I have to say, Mary Poppins Returns actually impressed me and I left feeling like I may have spoken to soon.
Now, don’t get me wrong, Mary Poppins’ new adventure isn’t close to perfect. However, thanks to most of the wonderful cast and director Rob Marshall, they do add new twists to classic Mary Poppins moments. My biggest worry was that this sequel, coming 54 years after the original, would just feel like a carbon-copy and thankfully, that’s not the case. I appreciate the new story following an older Michael (Ben Whishaw) and Jane (Emily Mortimer) as Michael is about to lose his home. Thankfully for him, though, Mary Poppins (Emily Blunt) returns to not only help Michael take care of his three children, but also help him keep his home and regain his youthful spirit.
The performances from everyone in the film are pretty solid for the most part, with Blunt’s Mary Poppins and Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Jack easily being the biggest charms of the film. The two carry each song they sing and have some fun moments with one another that I enjoyed for the most part. However, before I get more into this, I just need a moment to talk about something that deterred me from feeling like Blunt’s portrayal of Poppins is perfect. Especially in the beginning of the film, I constantly felt like Blunt’s Poppins was missing a sense of charm with each dig or witty insult that she throws.
Not to compare her to Julie Andrews’s original portrayal of the character, but with Andrews, I always sensed a smile or a sense of rightful charm with each line. However, with Blunt’s portrayal I just couldn’t get past her stern-looking face and dead-pan approach and instead of laughing after each line, I could only hear a meme that felt like it should follow each line. Oh what is that meme? What is it? Oh. Oh.
Yep, that’s the one. Perhaps it’s my age or my maturity level (probably that one), but it’s just something that I kept associating with every line Mary Poppins had and how Blunt delivers them. It felt so un-Mary Poppins at times and if there was just the slightest hint of anything other than sternness, I probably would’ve felt a little bit different.
Getting back to Blunt and Miranda’s dynamic — there’s really something great that these two bring to these roles. With each song of t and magical moment that passes on screen, I found a smile growing bigger on my face. Blunt is extremely graceful in all of her songs and Miranda brings his own style to singing songs like, “The Cover is Not the Book.” Frankly, without these two, I probably wouldn’t have enjoyed the songs the same way since most of them, while new, came off as unmemorable.
However, the newness of everything in Mary Poppins Returns is probably what I enjoyed most about the film as a whole. Marshall brings some great moments of foreshadowing with the opening of the film and there were constant little tweaks to classic moments. For instance, with Poppins and company going into the art of a porcelain bowl, the aesthetic actually carries the sliding and sound effect of walking on porcelain. There’s also a new set of dances with chimney sweeps and more imaginative moments with most of the sets.
Now, I will say that not all of the new parts of Mary Poppins Returns are practically perfect in every way. There are moments that feel like they could easily have been cut out, like the whole sequence with Topsy (Meryl Streep), as they are only there to just as musical numbers that just don’t stick. The film adds a villain, the mustache twirling type with henchman, which felt completely unnecessary. He feels like he’s there to only add more conflict to a story already full of solid conflict within the family and isn’t given much time to be on-screen.
Frankly, the conflict within the family and the new story was probably one of my favorite parts of the movie. I loved how the new set of children are more cognizant of the situation they are in with their home and are willing to help out. It felt incredibly genuine and it all leads to a subtly excellent performance from Whishaw that cuts you a little deep.
Now, for those a little sad because you feel like there isn’t enough nostalgia for Mary Poppins Returns to offer, have no worries. There are little spoonfuls of callbacks and cameos that will surely give you your fill of nostalgia. There’s an excellent cameo from Dick Van Dyke that will put a smile on anyone’s face and seeing the captain still fire his cannon from his roof will bring old fans a joyous trip down memory lane. However, the lack of nostalgia is oddly one of the things I liked the most about the film, as it has been one of my biggest complaints about most of Disney’s reboots and sequels. The film never over-relied on the nostalgia and there were enough moments that made me feel like I was watching a legitimate sequel.
I am surprised that Mary Poppins Returns was more original than I initially thought and, perhaps, shows that there is a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel for these Disney reboots and sequels. Yet, I still find myself debating whether or not I still feel that it doesn’t need to exist or if I’m just happy with what I got.
When thinking back on it, I think there’s enough there for me to let my cynical side take a break and be happy that Mary Poppins Returns brings legitimate joy for the holidays and ends up being a sequel that’s a fun, magical, and not so practically perfect sequel to a true classic.
Rating: 7/10
