Mary Poppins Returns movie review

RATING: PG

LENGTH: 130 minutes

Movie Review Mom GRADE: A-

TIPS FOR PARENTS:

This is wonderful family entertainment for all ages. Those who grew up with the original Mary Poppins may even love it more than their kids! Some kids may think it’s too old-fashioned.
There are some British words that a lot of Americans won’t understand. For example: Wellies = boots (usually rain boots), larder = food pantry, leery = a British lamplighter.
Show your kids the original Mary Poppins first, if you can. That way they can appreciate the respectful nods to the past and appreciate the character nuances.
The topics are a bit dark for kids: the death of a parent, losing a home to foreclosure

IN A NUTSHELL:

Based on the stories by P. L. Travers, this lovely family-friendly film is, as Mary Poppins would say, “practically perfect in every way.” It has the magic, wonder, fun, music, and spirit of the original movie while providing new talent and new musical numbers. I absolutely loved it and kept hearing myself say, “Aaah” many times.

You will be delighted with the 2 special cameo performances towards the end of the movie! I don’t want to spoil it for you, so I won’t say who they are…

The 1964 Disney movie Mary Poppins became a classic and has warmed audiences’ hearts for over 54 years. That’s actually a record for the longest time for a sequel! It won 5 Academy Awards and instantly propelled Julie Andrews into an international movie star. Emily Blunt is absolutely fantastic and worthy of holding the Mary Poppins umbrella. The Disney magic lives on. As P. L. Travers says, “practical, yet magical.”

THEMES:

“Everything is possible, even the impossible.” – Mary Poppins
The loss of a loved one.
“No looking back.” – Michael Banks (Ben Whishaw)
First impressions.
“Always look up.” – song lyrics

THINGS I LIKED:

While Julie Andrews left large shoes to fill, Emily Blunt is really great. Fun fact: Both Julie Andrews and Emily Blunt were pregnant when offered the role in their movies, so production was put on hold until after their babies were born. Julie Andrews has been as gracious as always and even declined the role as the balloon lady, fearing that her presence would be distracting in “Emily’s movie.” Wow. Emily Blunt has described Mary Poppins as a superhero. Believe it or not, Emily hadn’t seen the original movie since she was a child and she chose not to watch it again while preparing for the role. Even more amazing is that P. L. Travers hated the original movie!
The music is really great and a beautiful mixture of sweet, melancholy, silly, and fun.
The talented Ben Whishaw does a great job on a very sweet, tender song in the beginning of the film about his wife who had died. (Fun fact: He has a twin brother in real life. I have a twin sister!) Later, Emily Blunt sings another sweet song to the children about their mother. Oh, the feels!
The children are adorable, especially Georgie. They are played by Joel Dawson, Nathanael Saleh, and Pixie Davies.
The animation scenes about the chipped China bowl were awesome and probably my favorite. The costumes were super cute too.
It’s impossible to not love Oscar winner Colin Firth.
I loved Mary Poppins’ shoes, gloves, and outfits. Some critics say they were too modern. Pish posh.
I loved the dance number with the leeries (Lamplighter). Some of those guys were unbelievably great dancers.
I wanted to clap after many of the big musical dance numbers.
I loved it when Michael said, “Let’s go fly a kite.” (You’ll appreciate it only if you’ve seen the original movie.) I liked that they carried that idea into this movie.
This is the first time since WINNIE THE POOH that the Disney studio has used hand-drawn animations in a movie.
Karen Dotrice played Jane in the original movie and is given a cameo performance as the elegant lady. (very small part)
Julie Walters is adorable, as always.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

It’s really sad and the sadness hovers over the entire length of the film. Disney loves to kill off one parent.
The little girl almost always had an annoyed look on her face.
Meryl Streep’s costume and makeup were a bit too over-the-top for me. She’s still awesome though.
There is a moment when you might actually say, “What? That’s ridiculous.” It has to do with London’s famous Big Ben clock tower.
Some of the song lyrics are so fast that it’s often hard to understand what’s being said/sung.
I love Lin-Manuel Miranda, but his performance didn’t pop like Dick Van Dyke’s in the original movie. Seriously, I love him, but even his accent wasn’t very good. He got to shine in a little rap-like song though.
Even though I liked the music, I couldn’t walk out of the theater humming any of them.
I really liked “the cover is not the book” song, but was surprised that there were some subtly inappropriate jokes.
I was surprised that the closing credits were so boring, rather than decorated with cartoons or cute animations.
Some critics contend that the movie isn’t innovative enough like the original one was. I actually liked that it belonged to the same time period and matched the look and feel of the original.
Admiral Boom didn’t quite land. Setting off booms every hour? What neighborhood would tolerate that?
It would have been cute if this Mary Poppins said, “Supercallifragilisticexpialidocious” but she doesn’t.
Missed opportunity….Apparently, there was a petition going around to get one of the characters from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (Theatrical) who had talked about Mary Poppins in that movie to make an appearance in this movie. That would have been awesome. Drats.

FUNNY LINES:
“She’s a tough nut, isn’t she?” – John (Nathanael Saleh)
I was flying a kite and it caught on a nanny.” – Georgie (Joel Dawson)

INTERESTING LINES:

“Today or never. That’s my motto.” – Mary Poppins
“You can’t lose what you’ve never lost.” – Mary Poppins
“Gone, but not forgotten.” – Mary Poppins
“When you change the view from where you stood, the things you viewed will change for good.” – Mary Poppins
“Whenever I lose my way, I just look for a little light to guide me.” – Jack
“It’s darkest just before the light.” – Jack
“I haven’t held a balloon since I was a child.” – Michael

“Then you’ve forgotten.” – Balloon Lady

“How to hold a balloon?” –Michael

“To be a child.” – Balloon Lady