She’s back. It is rarely a good idea to re-make a classic. But Hollywood keeps trying. Fortunately, the brains behind Mary Poppins Returns decided to give us the next chapter in the Mary Poppins/Banks family story. It works … really, really well.
Mary Poppins Returns (Emily Blount, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ben Whishaw, Emily Mortimer, Julie Walters, Meryl Streep, Dick Van Dyke, Colin Firth, Angela Lansbury) – The biggest musical in years, Mary Poppins Returns is a triumph of film, special effects, music, and nostalgia. Rob Marshall of Chicago and Into the Woods fame, helms a masterpiece that serves as a worthy sequel to the 1964 classic Mary Poppins starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke.
Emily Blount is a perfect Poppins. With a touch of conceit, a glint of superiority, and an abundance of love, this Mary Poppins floats down on a kite to re-visit the next generation of the Banks family she cared for in the original. Michael Banks (Ben Whishaw) is a single dad now, having lost his wife a year earlier. With his sister, Jane (Emily Mortimer, one of my personal favorites), his daffy housekeeper (Julie Walters), and his three kids, he is facing financial trouble in the Depression while trying to keep things afloat. He is working in a bank but has missed three house payments. Foreclosure is imminent, and the president of the bank (played by Colin Firth in a rare evil role) wants the home. Mary Poppins is back to care for the kids and share her unique brand of magic to help the family through the crisis.
Lin-Manuel Miranda, the genius behind Hamilton, plays Jack, the lamplighter who is the son of Burt, the chimney sweep, from the original. Mary Poppins and Jack have a natural connection in the film but, even better, Miranda and Blount have chemistry on-screen. Miranda is the light of the film. Engaging, talented and musically gifted, he transports the audience as surely as his character transports the Banks family on his bicycle.
The music is breezy and exceptional. Written by the hardest working songster in stage and screen, Mark Shaman (with lyricist Scott Wittman), the soundtrack provides a featured forum for every performer, including the cameo appearances of Meryl Streep (in a lusciously quirky role), Dick Van Dyke (as the sidelined patriarch of the bank) and Angela Lansbury (as the balloon confectioner). What a treat to see these legendary performers in an instant classic of a film. (Andrews was offered a cameo, too, but she turned it down so as not to distract from what she called “Emily’s movie.”)
Blount and Streep appear together for the third time (The Devil Wears Prada, Into the Woods). Van Dyke and Lansbury, both 93 years old, can still sing and steal scenes. With two A-List stars in Miranda and Blount, box office gold is assured.
In our cynical age, Mary Poppins Returns might not reach the iconic stature of the original. But it deserves to. It is family entertainment that brings a smile to your face and allows us to escape from the daily travails of the world in 2018. MP2 is a must-see family picture that will have you humming all the way home.