Michael's Movie Grade: A-Review: In my mind Mary Poppins is possibly the Disney Studio's finest feature film. With this said I admit to being a little weary when I first heard of Mary Poppins Returns. I needn't have been though. While the first film is still in class of its own and this movie doesn't reach the heights of that masterpiece, it is an incredibly good film in its own right. To say that the original outshines this movie is not even an insult and with how great this new movie is that just shows how incredible the first was.
This is a movie filled with pure Disney magic in a way that has not been seen in many current live action Disney movies. There are moments here that fully remind Disney lovers why we fell in love with Disney to begin with. Though reminiscent of Step in Time from the first movie, the Trip a Little Light Fantastic scene is simply irresistibly magical. The Place Where Lost Things Go has to be one of the finest song numbers in a musical movie in a long time. The lyrics are beautiful. Having lost loved ones recently these lyrics were especially touching and relatable. The melody was also perfect and lovely this was the highlight of the film for me. The very first fantasy sequence is also practically perfect in every way. It reintroduces one to the magic of Mary Poppins in a way that blows us away making us believe in the magic as well as the kids. I also love the Turning Turtle sequence which is delightfully imaginative in every possible way. Emily Blunt is also practically perfect in the role coming as close to Julie Andrews as any actress can. Her performance captured both the magic and the nonchalance perfectly. Her performance was just extremely charming here. The movie also did a great job with grown up Michael (Ben Whishaw). He has lost the innocence, trust and happiness from his childhood years in way that is completely believable. He is never purposely neglectful to his kids instead he is in an understandable and real predicament that we can all relate to and that would effect us the same way. This makes this fantasy filled movie always feel real.
This movie isn't quite perfect in every way though. The struggles of the Banks family was enough to sustain the movie, and therefore the inclusion of a villain (especially one as boring as we get here) seems pointless. I don't want to compare this to the first movie much, but I have to point out that there was a reason that movie didn't have a villain. This movie also has one surprisingly weak song number A Cover is Not The Book. This movie is also missing the slower and quieter scenes that helped make the first film so amazing.
Still this movie comes much closer to capturing the magic of the first film than I ever suspected. The songs (all written by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman) are fantastic (with one exception mentioned earlier), the performances are incredible, the creativity is amazing and most of all that old Disney magic is still there. For us lovers of the original there is also cameos by Dick Van Dyke and Karen Dotrice, instrumental versions of the songs from the first movie, and a great tribute to Peter Ellenshaw (the matte painter and one of the special effects artists for the first movie and many more great live action Disney films of the 1950's, 60's and 70's). Don't miss this.
-Michael J. Ruhland
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