"Mary Poppins Returns" Review - The Jolliest Way To Spend a Holiday

There’s a high bar to hit for something like a sequel to “Mary Poppins”. Not just because it’s Disney’s Citizen Kane, but because of its brilliant, yet tenacious author, PR Travers. If anyone remembers the film, “Saving Mr. Banks”, it’s a wonderful movie about how Walt Disney tried so hard to have her sign over the movie rights to her beloved books. She became a script supervisor, which ultimately led her to becoming basically a director behind the curtain as she was so detailed in her vision for the book, and didn’t want anything less than that. Understandably so of course. In the end, what that movie doesn’t tell you is that she STILL hated the movie. Everything from Dick Van Dyke to the animation, and after the timeless original film was released, she made it clear that her other books never be adapted to the big screen.

That is…until now since she’s passed away.

Flash forward to now, and we have “Mary Poppins Returns”. I went in very excited, but also with a high bar as I promised. Again, not just because I love the original, but because Travers loved the “original” herself. What I was most worried about with this remake was would it fit what Travers would’ve wanted. Honestly, I don’t think anything would’ve pleased her, but using the 1964 classic is a good bar to compare to. Not necessarily to say, “I love the original better, end of story”; after all, the first one had MANY problems of its own. But more to see if the overall magic of the sequel fits in the glove of Disney’s and Travers’ vision. I don’t like comparing remakes to originals or 2s to 1s, but in this case, as a Disney fanatic, I have no choice.

Luckily, I have much more praise to give this film than I do hate. “Mary Poppins Returns” is a very lovely film. It’s got lots of heart and fun while also being something entirely new. The set design and cinematography are both beautiful and work so nicely hand to hand with each other. Whatever minimal effects the movie uses, they are done flawlessly, and the rest of the effects are more practical in a way, but I’ll get to that in a minute. Plus, the cast is downright fantastic, whether it’s a small cameo from Dick Van Dyke or Angela Lansbury, to the more leading roles played by any of the kids, Ben Whishaw, or my favorite Hamilton man, Lin Manuel Miranda.

The most important part of this though is the musical aspect, and thank goodness this film went far beyond what I originally expected. The songs by Hairspray songwriters, Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, may not be as memorable as the original, but they’ll still make you sing along to them afterwards while in the car, especially with the brilliant choreography to accompany these tunes. I mean come on, these are 5 million times better than the kind of crap you hear on the radio, right? Plus, the luscious score combined with a 100 piece orchestra is something you just don’t see in movies nowadays, and it filled may heart with so much joy to just listen to the background noise.

When it comes to honoring the original vision of the film as I circle back to the points I made in the beginning, it’s a mixed bag. Emily Blunt is phenomenal in her own charming Julie Andrews like ways, the animated sequence is quite possibly one of the best scenes I have witnessed all year, and all of the magical adventures the kids go on all fit miraculously well. However, there were some things the script did with Mary Poppins that I felt were so out of her character. Plus, there was an element to the subplot to this film that just bugged the living hell out of me. Without spoiling anything, let’s just say it feels more in place with an Alvin and the Chipmunks movie that with a movie that lines more with Spirited Away or Alice In Wonderland.

When it all comes down to it though, both the original and the sequel have their major faults and are not practically perfect. One does things way better than the other and visa versa. But “Mary Poppins Returns” does a phenomenal job in its own right capturing the magic of the writings and Walt himself. I didn’t want this movie to hold back on being a classic musical and honoring the source, and I’m happy enough with what director, Rob Marshall, was able to achieve. If you’re a general fan of musicals, Disney, or Mary Poppins herself, this is the perfect movie to sweeten up your life. Allow yourself to be taken into this fantasy. Don’t look back on Star is Born or La La Land. Because no matter what came before what, being taken on journeys through the art of a projector is the singular reason we all go to the cinema (or at least why I go). You won’t find this original of a trip like this every day, so support it and then we can get more of it.

Two Nebs Up!