MARY POPPINS RETURNS

When i was a kid, when I'd see a Disney Film the whole family would be taken on a grand adventure. The movie would finish and you'd leave the theater, all warm with the magic of the film; heading home with memorable songs in your heart.This movie did not disappoint! This is the magic that we always used to get from a Disney film. While I love the first with Julie Andrews, this sequel follows beautifully in the tradition of Disney magic - the way it used to be.

I rented this movie to watch with my nieces as it was their choice on movie night. I was not enthused about their choice because I wasn’t very excited about the original movie when I was a kid but man, once we started watching it, I absolutely loved it. I went home and put it on for my mom to watch and I eagerly watched it again. Great modern remake of the original. I even talked it up to friends at church.

If you watched the original as a child, you won’t quite recognize Mary Poppins in her return. Emily Blunt is an AMAZING actress but the director made her portray Mary Poppins as stern and stone-faced, although kind. Still, there’s no intrinsic joy and wonderment in this characterization. Emily Blunt is a physically beautiful Mary Poppins but she was stifled from developing the nuances of Mary Poppins that make her unique, lovable, and unforgettable to her audience.As for the costumes, sets, and story:The costumes and sets were gorgeous with quite a bit of cgi. The scene that began with the lamp lighters each posing under a street light was gorgeous.And the story… I may be too old to keep my attention focused on a story written for children. Overall, I was bored but I mostly was bored during the songs. There were so many songs and I didn’t find them catchy. With fewer songs, I may have been more intrigued by the story which involved working together to solve a problem and overcome the bad guy. The plot was actually fantastic.This movie is five stars for young children.

Way too many people compare this sequel to the original, and holding them up side-by-side like that, no wonder people dislike this new movie. If you go into this knowing that it is not the original, that it's not supposed to be the original, and that it is it's own movie, and the characters, even though they are the same, now are older with different life experiences and their own story to tell, then you may enjoy this film.Many viewers were disappointed that the original songs, or at least the melodies from the original film were not replayed in this newer film. Why?! This is NOT the original movie with the same story. This new movie has it's own story to tell and hence has it's own songs to tell it. And honestly, why would you want to mess with the much loved and cherished original songs? If the creators HAD included the original songs, or used the original melodies and rewrote new lyrics to them, I suspect these same people complaining about them not using the songs, would then complain that they have tampered with these beloved classic songs. And further, had they done so, it would make it seem like it was indeed trying to be the original. But it's not!Rant over.It's a fine film, very entertaining. A pleasant way to spend movie night with the family.

No comment

It's been 25 years, and a lot has happened with the Banks children. Michael (Ben Wishaw) now has three kids he's trying to rise on his own with some help from his sister Jane (Emily Mortimer), his wife having died a year before. He's taken out a loan and when a pair of bank reps show up saying his home will be repossessed if the loan is not paid off in a few days, things look bleak. It's at this point Mary Poppins (Emily Blunt) comes drifting in once again, announcing she will take charge of the Banks children as their nanny. Based on the Mary Poppins novels by P.L. Travers, Returns was directed by Rob Marshall from a script by David McGee. It's clear a lot of work, talent and care went into the making of this film. The street the Banks live on has be re-created meticulously as has some of the London environs. There's a musical sequence featuring live actors and animated characters. The cast is great, also featuring Lin-Manuel Miranda as lamplighter Jack and Colin Firth as the corrupt bank chairman Wilkins. Dick Van Dyke (Chimney sweep Bert in the original film), Meryl Streep and Angela Lansbury show up in cameos. The film as a whole looks like it was shot back in the mid 1960's in terms style. Despite that, I couldn't get past the feeling Mary Poppins Returns felt like a re-hash of the original tale with new songs, dance numbers and situations pasted over it. Instead of Bert, we have Jack, who leads our cast on a nighttime romp through London with his fellow 'leeries' at one point singing tongue twisting lyrics not unlike Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. Instead of jumping into a chalk painting, our cast jump into a china bowl and encounter animated animals. The tea party on the ceiling has been replaced by the upside-down shop Mary's cousin Topsy (Streep) lives in. The members of the bank are once again the main antagonists. Angela Lansbury replaces the Bird Woman as the Balloon Woman and the whole cast ends up in a sequence not unlike the kite flying one from the original film. There's maybe three songs that really stood out to me, and well, in the long run I just didn't feel the magic even though Mary Poppins Returns is trying to shove it down your throat sideways in a nostalgic way. Maybe it's because I grew up with the original and can still sing the freaking songs from it after all these years.That said, I'm not going to tell folks not to watch it, as mentioned, it is well done with a great cast, and a film for the whole family. It just feels like I've seen it all before and the original was better.

Great

👍😎👍

I did eagerly await seeing this in the cinema, and it did not disappoint. With some subtle references visually and audibly to the 1964 original, it was intended to be a tribute to as much as a sequel for "Mary Poppins". Miss Lark and a new dog, Willoughby, are in a recurring role, turning up briefly throughout - even in musical numbers - as an amusing upper class lady casually walking her privileged pooch. A nice bonus is how it's presented pretty much like all those classic musicals of the past...not just Disney, but Rogers & Hammerstein, Lerner & Loewe and others of that era. Delightful, impressive cast plus a charming soundtrack that can become an "ear worm". I'm puzzled by some of the negative reviews...must be people that haven't been exposed to many uplifting, pleasant musicals and prefer to avoid them completely. Of course, another great bonus with the home video are the behind the scenes and "the making of..." bonus features -- I'm one of those people that always finds those fascinating and can't get enough of them. It's just unfortunate it's only available on the Blu-Ray, although they seem to be cropping up on YouTube. All in all, great film if you're in the mood for simpler times and giving your inner child a treat!

I saw this in the theatre when it came out in December 2018 and had to own it on DVD. Emily Blunt is a fantastic Mary Poppins for a new generation. Fantastic production values and choreography and costumes and fantastic songs. What's not to love?

War zu Frieden mit der Lieferung

This was a sequel the longest ever awaited I am thinking in the movies by 54 years. The computer generated aspects are superior as we are now more advanced. but the movie lacks the crisp quality of the original and yes, that illustrious musical voice (now silenced) of Julie Andrews. Despite the lesser musicality of the original, this was an entertaining and engaging sequel sufficient to allow a rating of 5 stars. By all accounts, Disney produced a lovely sequel as best as they could indeed. Emily Blunt is admirable.