Review of Mary Poppins Returns (2018) by Ryan N — 29 Dec 2018

Mary Poppins Returns.

2018.

U.

Directed by: Rob Marshall.

Starring:Emily Blunt,Lin Manuel Miranda,Meryl streep,Colin Firth,Dick Van Dyke,Emily Mortimer and Ben Whishaw etc.

Overall rating 81/100.

Lets dive in to what makes Mary poppins returns a truly amazing in most ways sequel and another strong edition to the disney brand.

Lets start off with the incredible cast. Despite everyone having there excellent qualities I am particularly highlighting Julie Walters and Lin Manuel Miranda. Firstly Julie Walters is a fantastic actress and always does well in these types of roles as seen in Harry Potter and Paddington. She brought some humour to the film which helped the scenes with her in feel more humorous and warm. And secondly to Lin Manuel Miranda who did a fantastic job at technically playing Bert 2.0. He had the charm,the accent and great musical numbers to his character. You couldnâ(TM)t help but smile whenever he appeared on screen I think having a career in the west end has helped him tremendously for this type of role.

Next I do have to congratulate the director for getting the perfect actress for the role of Mary poppins. Emily Blunt was a fantastic Mary poppins. she has the charm the wittiness and the warmth that Julie Andrews bought. And even added a flavour of sass to the iconic character so she was on par and in some elements better then Julie Andrews.

The only slightly negative thing to do with the cast was the part of Meryl Streep. Her character just felt very out of place in the film and the whole scene with her in could of been cut from the film but it was fine for what it was.

Next I would like to add that the plot had so many nods to the original it was very nice to see after such a long wait for the sequel. Having key phrases and objects and the 2D animation world really will satisfy any fans of the original. And extending on the 2D animation world I thought that this whole scene was actually executed better then the original with the penguins and everything recognisable in the scene. It was just so nice to see this still added and done in the same way as the original but it will obviously look better due to higher budget.The director really did a creative and visually good job with making this as charming to watch as the original.

Next I would like to add the excellent musical numbers in this film. Yes perhaps there arenâ(TM)t as many iconic songs in this film as the original. But all the numbers were still very pleasant to watch and really took you to another place when listening. And all the cast could sing very well which also made the scenes even better.

The final nice positive that I think that Disney has really been executing well recently is the emotional depth to the narrative. having the Banks children recently losing there mum and to see how badly there father Michael Banks ( Ben Whishaw) was coping and that he didnâ(TM)t know how to cope with looking after the children really added some heartwarming scenes into the film and to see them all gradually get closer was very sweet indeed.

Just ending on 2 only little things negative to say. Firstly I did question a couple of times whether the director was perhaps being to reliant on the original in certain scenes. Which I think they were in places but that I think was the directors creative choice so it was still very nostalgic to see and there was just enough new elements to the film to balance it out. And finally The actual plot of the Banks home was fairly dull just in places but not so dull as to make the film that much worse but I do think if there was more focus on this type of plot my rating would of been a bit lower.

Overall Mary poppins returns is a fantastic film which is on the same level as the original and is another very strong addition to the Disney cannon.