Mary Poppins Returns
Directed by: Rob Marshall
Written by: David Magee - Based on the "Mary Poppins" stories by P.L. Travers
Starring: Emily Blunt, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ben Whishaw, Emily Mortimer, Pixie Davies, Nathanael Saleh, Joel Dawson, Julie Walters, Meryl Streep, Colin Firth, Jeremy Swift, Kobra Holdbrook-Smith, Dick Van Dyke, Angela Lansbury, David Warner, Jim Norton, Noma Dumezweni
Comedy/Family/Fantasy - 130 min Reviewed by Charlie Juhl on 18 Dec 2018
Written by: David Magee - Based on the "Mary Poppins" stories by P.L. Travers
Starring: Emily Blunt, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ben Whishaw, Emily Mortimer, Pixie Davies, Nathanael Saleh, Joel Dawson, Julie Walters, Meryl Streep, Colin Firth, Jeremy Swift, Kobra Holdbrook-Smith, Dick Van Dyke, Angela Lansbury, David Warner, Jim Norton, Noma Dumezweni
Comedy/Family/Fantasy - 130 min Reviewed by Charlie Juhl on 18 Dec 2018
2013’s Saving Mr. Banks taught us the real Mary Poppins was taken away from P.L. Travers and unforgivably Disneyfied complete with songs and even animation. Mary Poppins the character was supposed to be far more serious, and above all, taken seriously. After the 1964 film fast became every child’s first film and solidified its place in pop culture, Poppins was no longer P.L Travers’s no-nonsense nanny, she was a savior descended from the heavens to not only course correct wayward adults, but spare plenty of time to sing, dance, instigate adventures, and then deny ever having them. Mary Poppins Returns is not so much a sequel as it is a remake and the revisit to Cherry Tree Lane feels a full order of magnitude lesser in majesty and material to the original. However, there is something about that nanny…
We are now in the 1930s where finances are hard to come by and the Banks household, now solely run by grieving husband and father of three, Michael (Ben Whishaw, Paddington 2), is on the brink of foreclosure. Michael is an artist at heart, earns a meager pittance as a part-time teller at his father’s stuffy bank, and despairs at any sort of repayment because his wife "used to deal with all of those matters." The three Banks children are scrappy though. Having “grown up a lot in the last year” since their mother’s passing, they grocery shop and do most of the caring for the youngest child, Georgie. John and Anabel are twins and not much older than Georgie, but maid, nanny, and cook, Ellen (Julie Walters, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again), whom I believe is supposed to be the same cook character from the first film, is too senile to reliably accomplish any of the daily tasks.
We are now in the 1930s where finances are hard to come by and the Banks household, now solely run by grieving husband and father of three, Michael (Ben Whishaw, Paddington 2), is on the brink of foreclosure. Michael is an artist at heart, earns a meager pittance as a part-time teller at his father’s stuffy bank, and despairs at any sort of repayment because his wife "used to deal with all of those matters." The three Banks children are scrappy though. Having “grown up a lot in the last year” since their mother’s passing, they grocery shop and do most of the caring for the youngest child, Georgie. John and Anabel are twins and not much older than Georgie, but maid, nanny, and cook, Ellen (Julie Walters, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again), whom I believe is supposed to be the same cook character from the first film, is too senile to reliably accomplish any of the daily tasks.
This is a muddle in need of unmuddling - perhaps another visit from Mary Poppins (Emily Blunt, The Girl on the Train) is in order. Michael and Jane (Emily Mortimer, The Party) remember Mary Poppins but believe their magical adventures were only silly games and not the real thing. Soon enough, Mary and the Banks children are swimming with dolphins in the bathtub in their version of the clean up the nursery song. Regarding the new original songs, most of them are quite pleasant and a few are even worth revisiting such as “The Royal Doulton Music Hall” and “Trip a Little Light Fantastic” which is the new version of “Step in Time”. However, not even the best of the new bunch is better than the most mediocre of the vintage tunes. To each their own, but half the songs on the first soundtrack could have won a Best Song Oscar - I am not hearing too much clamor for even one of the new songs to compete for a statue.
Since Disney and director Rob Marshall are in remake territory instead of true sequel, everything will be a little different than it was last time. The chimney sweeps are now lamp lighters, Votes for Women are union organizers, and instead of laughing too hard you end up on the ceiling, an entire room goes topsy-turvy this time. The scene with a “wooden leg named Smith” was a throwaway moment in the first film which would have left the product just as strong if it was left on the editing room floor. Writer David Magee expands that moment into one of the film's major musical numbers with Meryl Streep headlining a tedious fork in the road and perhaps the film’s worst song, “Turning Turtle”, which stops the momentum dead in its tracks.
Lin-Manuel Miranda as Jack, our new Dick Van Dyke blue collar working man, shows off his sing-rap style which made him famous through Broadway’s Hamilton. Jack, like Van Dyke’s Bert, is in on the Mary Poppins magic; however, we get a lot more of Jack than we had of Bert. At times, Mary Poppins feels like a supporting character. I have no doubt someone will do the math, but Miranda may have more screen time than Emily Blunt does. There are a couple other curious personality changes as well. Mary Poppins gave George Banks a whole lot of guff all those years ago. She made him feel like a fool and famously quipped, “I never explain anything.” Now, Mary acquiesces to Michael, calls him sir, bows her head, and acts sheepish when called out on her disruptive adventure shenanigans. The old version of the nanny would have bent Michael over her knee for a good swatting rather than play meek. Later on, the plot suggests all Jane Banks needs to be happy and lead a full life is a man. I know we are in the 1930s here, but it still comes off as awkward.
Regardless of how many wink and nudge changes there are, the biggest difference with this update is the loss of majesty. Mary Poppins was more than righting the wrongs of one household, it was also a love letter to London. “Feed the Birds” ended with the city bathed in the glow of a gorgeous sunset. Not only is there no song as wise and telling as “Feed the Birds”, but while the production designers recreate particular London streets and landmarks with aplomb, there is no meaningful connection. London was a character before, it’s merely a setting now. Rob Marshall knows his way around a musical. He was nominated for Best Director for Chicago and also created Nine and Into the Woods, but Mary Poppins Returns, while stuffed to the gills with musical ditties, is also driven forward with an overly-busy plot and action-oriented movements. There is no time and space to sit back and just fly a kite.
A return to a very familiar cinematic world is a balancing act for any filmmaker. How much do you preserve and protect and how much do you expand and add to? Mary Poppins may be the most preserved. She denies any part of the adventures, but continues to weave her master plan, and also maintains her vainglorious demeanor with those mirror checks and confirmations of being practically perfect in every way. Underneath this stern nanny is a catalyst who wants the Banks family to succeed, but would laugh off such an accusation until her dying day. The animated sequence remains hand drawn and 2D, also a credit to preservation, but the song “A Cover is Not the Book”, which combines the live action and animated characters, will never hold a candle to “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”. Mary Poppins Returns is not meant to usurp the original. Most audiences will appreciate a return to the world of nanny magic, but that feeling of less is actually less lurks right around the corner.
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