Review of Mary Poppins Returns (2018) by Nolan L — 16 Jan 2019

Anyone who knows me knows that I love the original Mary Poppins movie from 58 years ago. As this is the case, anyone can guess how excited I was to see this sequel for the first, which I totally was. It started off with an original music number, which made me super excited for the rest of the film.

Unfortunately, however, as the film progressed, the more disappointed I became. The special effects were exactly what I expected for a Mary Poppins movie with roughly 60 years of improved technology: nothing short of amazing.

There were two scenes that were the pinnacle of the disappointment. The main offense was the âcover is not the bookâ? scene. The song was not what I expected from a Mary Poppins film (although the Hamilton-style Lin Manuel Miranda solo was awesome) and it felt like they were making fun of the animated penguins (which were one of my favorite things about the original).

On the other hand, I enjoyed the old-school-style animation of that scene. The other misfire was the Topsy number. It felt out of place and you canâ(TM)t ruin any character, let alone Mary Poppins, by telling everyone that that character has such a creepo for a cousin.

That being said, the bank taking property is, in my opinion, an overused conflict, however I liked how the banker was actually evil, along with the Dick Van Dyke cameo. This brings me to my next point: Lin-Manuel Miranda, though I love his Hamilton and In the Heights productions, was no Bert-substitute.

And the Michael actor didnâ(TM)t look like the kid in the original, but besides that, the casting was well done. Though Mary Poppins Returns was a bit underwhelming, it was still an enjoyable experienceâ"at the times that didnâ(TM)t fall flat.