Review: Mary Poppins Returns
Mary Poppins Returns is the sequel to the 1964 musical fantasy movie, starring Emily Blunt and Lin-Manuel Miranda.
Plot: Decades after her original visit, the magical nanny returns to help the Banks siblings and Michael's children through a difficult time in their lives.
Being released more than 50 years after the original movie, Mary Poppins Returns does feel more like a remake than a sequel, feels more like a retelling of the first movie, than a continuation of the story.
On the plus side, the actors are fantastic, especially Emily Blunt, who for me is on par with Julie Andrews, and Lin-Manuel Miranda, who is a great slightly modernized version of Dick von Dykes’ character.
The musical parts are also great. The combination of music and visual presentation, which are always bright and colorful and joyful. The combination of animation and practical effects blend together seamlessly, making every song a truly enjoyable dream sequence.
While these are definitely the best parts in the movie, the song themselves are unable to reach the greatness of some of the original songs. I doubt in 10 years anyone will remember the songs of the sequels in the way we remember “Spoon full of sugar”, “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” or “Chim Chim Cher-ee” today.
The story the movie tell is the weakest part for me. It feels uninspired, a mere vehicle to transport the characters from one music part to the next. During some of these parts I felt myself get sleepy and rest my eyes for a few minutes, since nothing interesting was going anyway. On the other hand, the story is not the reason anyone will want to see the movie. I don’t want to judge it to harsh, an “OK” story might be enough to carry you through the movie.
In Summary I would say that Mary Poppins Returns is an entertaining movie that is worth experiencing on the big screen because of its great music sequences with fantastical pictures, the movie feels like a remake that fails to reach the greatness of the original in every part, except maybe for Emily Blunts performance. If you get the chance to watch the original, watch that, if not, the sequel will do.
My rating: 7/10
