Mary Poppins Returns
Ten Second Review: Mary Poppins Returns fails to make full use of some incredible actors. While it might have made for a good sequel decades ago, it feels quite tired as an idea now.
I grew up with Mary Poppins being one of my favourite weekend films. Apparently, I would get to the end of the VHS and then rewind it and watch it again. When I heard that Emily Blunt would be taking on the role I was ecstatic and this was only heightened by the idea that she would be joined by Lin Manuel Miranda. By the time I’d seen a trailer and a shot of Dick Van Dyke in a cameo, I was sold and couldn’t be more excited. Sadly, no amount of good acting potential can make up for a lack lustre story.
Some two decades after the Banks children first met Mary Poppins, we find Michael Banks down on his luck. His wife has passed away and he is struggling to cover his debts. In a rather opposite manner to their father, his children, played by Pixie Davies, Nathanael Saleh and Joel Dawson, are actually far too responsible. When lawyers alert Michael to missed payments on a loan he took out they inform him that they will have to reposes his house. It is at this point that Mary Poppins sees it fit to return and help the Banks children, both young and old, once again.
The first thing to say about this film is that the acting from most the adults is great. From Blunt’s Poppins and Emily Mortimer’s Jane Banks to Colin Firth and Dick Van Dyke’s familial Bankers, the cast seems to have a lot of fun with their roles. Working under the assumption that Lin Manuel Miranda was doing a send up of Dick Van Dyke’s famously awful cockney accent, I would also be willing to say he does a great job with what he was given. Sadly, I do think that Ben Wishaw is a complete miscasting. He doesn’t read well as a father who has found himself on hard times and often seems very disingenuine and forced. It is a shame as he his so prevalent and I felt he constantly took me out of the film. The young actors also feel a little miscast but I wonder if this is more to do with the scripting.
This, for me, was where the film was at it’s worst. While the songs may not be as memorable as in the original, they are very listenable and while the story and premise are not as exciting, it is still very easy to watch. Th scripting, however, is not good. The constant forcing in of lines about the deceased mother almost felt cruel to the children and the extra plot lines they tried to add in, so as to mirror the original as close as it possibly could, end up unfinished and unnecessary. I do wish the writers had delivered a more focused film that could have spent more time doing what it was doing well as opposed to diversifying and diluting its story.
Easily my favourite section of the film was the time spent inside the bowl. From the idea, to the animation, to the songs they do, that whole sequence alone might be worth seeing the film for. It perfectly reminds the audience why they fell in love with Mary Poppins in the first place but also gives both Blunt and Miranda an excellent time to highlight their talents. I really wish they had done a little more in that vein and a little less elsewhere as it was easily the most enjoyable part of the film and remained both classic Mary Poppins while feeling very fresh and modern. When I saw that Miranda was in the film I think I assumed they would lean into his musical talents like they clearly do in this scene. The sad bit for me when watching this film, is knowing that there is probably a really amazing version of the music for the film floating around his head and that maybe commitments or Disney’s fear over its handling of a precious property got in the wayof a really cool and interesting soundtrack.
To be perfectly honest, Mary Poppins Returns is perfectly fine but certainly not practically perfect in any sort of way. It won’t blow anyones socks off and while a little questionable at points, it probably won’t make anyone’s worst film of the year list. It comes out about as you’d imagine; it’s a little forgettable but quite harmless and you would probably enjoy watching the original more. If you were intent on seeing it then none of this will matter to you but if you were on the fence I’d say that there are plenty of far better films to be watching right now.
