Mary Poppins Returns
It’s been a good long while since I last watched “Mary Poppins,” and watching Rob Marshall’s sequel, I couldn’t help but think that I probably should have given it a rewatch before seeing the new one. Not that the story of “Mary Poppins Returns” is overly complicated, but some of the call backs might have had more juice if I had been familiar with Disney’s original classic.
The film that Marshall and writer David Magee (“Finding Neverland,” “Life of Pi”) have come up with from P.L. Travers’s stories is a familiar structure, especially if you remember, or watched, Disney’s “Christopher Robin.” It’s fundamentally the same thing, as Michael and Jane Banks (now grown, played by Ben Whishaw and Emily Mortimer) are trying their best to survive after Michael’s wife died in the last year, and bills are stacking up as the Great Depression before the war continues in London. The family house is on thin ice, as he is trying to raise their three kids by himself, and has a Friday deadline to pay back the loan, or he will be foreclosed on. Seems like it’s time for an intervention from their childhood nanny, Mary Poppins (Emily Blunt), and an assist by a friendly lamp lighter (Jack, played by Lin-Manuel Miranda).
This is a by-the-numbers sequel and contemporary family fantasy film in every way, so I could continue on discussing how convoluted the story Magee and Marshall are telling gets, but I’ll just focus on what the film does well, and doesn’t do well, within its framework. Let’s start with the actors. Blunt is the only choice for Poppins in this era, and she gives the role her very best in her blend of sharp wit, charm and warmth while singing the new songs by Marc Shaiman and Scott Whittman with full-throated excitement at the possibility. She genuinely loves playing the role, and she does the legacy of Julie Andrews proud. The next MVP is Miranda, the “Hamilton” star who fills in the role as Poppins’s real-world assistant in helping the Banks family get back on their feet. Like with Blunt, Miranda is a joy to watch in his role, especially during a late-night stroll song, “Trip a Little Light Fantastic,” that showcases his various skills as a performer. Their efforts alone are worth watching the film for, especially when they involve singing the songs by Shaiman and Whittman, and the fantasy elements of the movie.
Unfortunately, that’s about all I can really support about the film. Though Marshall has put obvious thought and care into the final product, it’s a bit of a slog at 130 minutes long, and when the focus becomes the real-world story of the Banks family, you not only come to figure out exactly where the film is going, but you don’t feel the pull on the heartstrings the way the film wants you to feel. The ultimate wrap-up of the film is extremely predictable, and though it includes the peerless Dick Van Dyke’s cameo, the look and feel of the film is so drab and depressing that what is supposed to be an uplifting finale feels like a merciful ending to what is ultimately a disappointing return to the world where the impossible always feels possible.
