Writer: David Magee, Rob Marshall, John DeLuca (Screenplay) P.L. Travers (Stories)
Starring: Emily Blunt, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ben Winshaw, Emily Mortimer, Pixie Davies, Nathanael Saleh
Plot: A few decades after her original visit, Mary Poppins (Emily Blunt), the magical nanny, returns to help the Banks siblings and Michael’s (Ben Whishaw’s) children through a difficult time in their lives.
Runtime: 2 Hours 10 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Dull Throughout
Story: Mary Poppins Returns starts as the Banks siblings, Michael (Whishaw) and Jane (Mortimer) are back living together after the death of Michael’s wife, his children Annabel (Davies), John (Saleh) and Georgie (Dawson) living with them along with Ellen (Walters) the housekeeper. With the family struggling with money, they are facing an uncertain future, until Mary Poppins (Blunt) returns to the Banks family to help the children once again.
As Mary Poppins teaches the kids a life lesson, we see how the family is still looking for options to save their house.
Thoughts on Mary Poppins Returns
Characters – Mary Poppins returns to the Banks family to help them in their time of need, she is polite and demanding on the children, singing along the way, only she doesn’t seem to help the family that much, other than distracting the children. Jack is the son of the chimney sweep who has been waiting for the return of Mary Poppins and has a history with the Banks siblings. Michael Banks is trying to keep roof over his family’s heads after the death of his wife, his sister is supporting him and his is clumsy, that is all we learn about him. Jane is the sister that helps around the house, she doesn’t remember Jack from their childhood.
Performances – Emily Blunt might be delightful to watch as Mary Poppins, only the character seems aimless in this film. The rest of the cast are fine, nobody is doing enough to make the impact they could, with the three child stars being the high highlight of the film.
Story – The story here follows the Banks family getting a second visit from Mary Poppins who has come to help them in their time of need once again as they are about to lose their home. The story doesn’t seem to click in anyway, because we are follow the children on adventures with Mary Poppins, only the film shows us the story is about how they need to try and rescue their home. It just leaves us confused and focusing on the wrong paths for the most part and ends up just being songs that just are not catchy as Disney is usually wonderful at doing
Comedy/Fantasy – The comedy barely ever hits, while the fantasy side of the film is more about taking more out of life, though it misses the magic of the original film.
Settings – The film does continue to use the old style of London, which does look great through the film, which is easily the best part of the film.
Special Effects – The effects in the film are mixed because at times you can clearly see the green screen for parts and it doesn’t help the extra fantasy side of the film.
Scene of the Movie – Bath time.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – The story doesn’t work well enough.
Final Thoughts – This is a poor sequel to a much-loved classic, which gets the story confused and ends up leaving us waiting for any sort of catchy song to start.
Overall: Disappointing Sequel.