DIRECTOR:
Rob Marshall
CAST: Emily Blunt, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ben Whishaw,
Emily Mortimer, Colin Firth, Julie Walters, Meryl Streep, Angela Lansbury, Dick
Van Dyke
STORY: David Magee; Rob Marshall; John DeLuca
SCREENPLAY:
David Magee
PRODUCERS: Rob Marshall, John DeLuca, Marc
Platt
GENRE: Musical Fantasy
MUSIC: Marc
Shaiman
EDITING: Wyatt
Smith
CINEMATOGRAPHY:
Dion Beebe
PRODUCTION COMPANY: Walt Disney Pictures,
Lucamar Productions, Marc Platt Productions
DISTRIBUTORS:
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
COUNTRY: United
States
LANGUAGE: English
RUNNING
TIME: 2 hours 10 minutes
Technical assessment: 4
Moral assessment: 4
CINEMA rating: VA (Viewers of All Ages)
Twenty five years
after the enigmatic nanny Mary Poppins (Emily Blunt) left her wards, siblings Jane
and Michael Banks, she returns, literally from out of the blue—kite in one
hand, luggage in the other. Jane and
Michael (Emily Mortimer and Ben Whishaw), are now grown, and in danger of
losing to foreclosure the family home where they reside with Michael’s children
Annabelle, John and Georgie (Pixie Davies, Nathanel Saleh, and Joel Dawson) and
their housekeeper Ellen (Julie Walters).
And now Mary Poppins must be their nanny—a heaven-sent fairy godmother doing
the impossible with the cooperation of lamplighter Jack (Lin-Manuel Miranda).
Baby boomers who
grew up singing “Supercalifragilisticexpialidotious” may be tempted to compare
Mary Poppins 1964 to Mary Poppins 2019, but there is really no need to. The latter could easily be a stand-alone
story that’s both a fantastic treat for children and a cautionary tale for
adults. Chucking the use of excessive
CGI, director Rob Marshall (Oscar Best Picture Chicago) cleverly combines live action with “old-fahioned”
hand-drawn animation for some sequences, resulting in a nostalgic bit for
parents and a “novelty” for the younger set.
Technical details are carefully attended to so that color, lighting,
music, lyrics, action, and others work together to create moods and reveal
meanings as the story unfolds. Blunt has
been known to be an actor of wide range, yet she still comes as a delightful
surprise as a singing, dancing wonder of a nanny. The child actors stand shoulder to shoulder
with the cast, too, that includes big names like Meryl Streep, Colin Firth,
etc.
Mary Poppins Returns makes it very easy for children—and all viewers—to see
the difference between right and wrong by its simple story told clearly, and
its elementary lesson taught unequivocally.
Even the lyrics (particularly of the songs Trip a Little Light Fantastic,
The Cover is Not the Book, The Place Where Lost Things Go, and Nowhere to Go
But Up) brimming over with optimism and childlike faith in the benevolence of
life. If you read between the lines you’ll
spot references to the importance of clarity of one’s vision, of a naked belief
that nothing is impossible, of being free and pure in heart always, of
remaining a child at whatever age. Even
the villain—for all his greed and duplicity—is dealt with justly but not
cruelly: his balloon won’t take off while others are having the time of their
life going up, up, up. (Is it telling
him that bad boys don’t go to heaven?) In
the end, Mary Poppins returns to where she came from—umbrella in one hand,
luggage in the other. Definitely a most
enjoyable family movie.—TRT
