Review of Mary Poppins Returns (2018) by Jamie A — 05 Jan 2019
I was apprehensive when they said they would make a new Companion movie for the class Julie Andrews film. Choosing Emily Blunt put my mind at ease but I still was worried that it might be too difficult to be faithful to the brilliance of the 1964 epic.
The opening song from Lin-Manuel had beautiful lyrics and the score hinted at 'The Life I Lead' and every song after that had a sneaky dalliance at a melody line from one of the older songs. A wonderful performance by Angela Lansbury was reminiscent of 'Fly a Kite'.
Although some moments seems random, such as the appearance that Meryl Streep gave which slightly detracted from the story as her character had no impact on the storyline other than she was going to possibly fix a royal doulton bowl.
That aside, Meryl's song was comedic and linked back to the scene in the Julie Andrews version where they kept laughing so much that they were flying around the house of a randon jolly man ('I love to laugh').
Emily can sing, act and hold an audience's interest with ease. Her charisma is similar but not the same as Julie Andrews. Julie was more about the singing whereas Emily's is about the harshness of the nanny, as told in the P L Travers books that inspired Walt's imagination when he read them with his daughter Diane. Emily holds this role well and has cheeky moments which show her chatacter's real personality.
Lin-Manuel Miranda is amazing and does a much better accent than Dick Van Dyke ever had. It is lovely to see Julie Walters as the housekeeper and the grown up Jane and Michael Banks are very credible played by Ben Wishaw and Emily Mortimer. Colin Firth even pops by to play a darker role but hold this well as always.
The opening credits were in the style of the original with smudged etchings of London draped beneath the cast list and credits. This made me cry straight away as it was true to the 1964 Disney way.
This movie made me cry as it brought back that Disney feeling and was sweetly made with care and attention.
This review of Mary Poppins Returns (2018) was written by Jamie A on 05 Jan 2019.
Mary Poppins Returns has generally received positive reviews.
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