I was a little skeptical about this one. Mary Poppins was one of the best movies I have ever seen. It is wholesome, entertaining and holds up after fifty years. It is literally one of the best films ever made. How do you follow that up? Believe it or not, Disney has managed to make a pretty good go at it. Considering that Disney has been on a high horse lately with their live-action remakes with their ridiculous social-justice warrior themes, this is a refreshingly almost modern attitude free story and simply just an entertaining romp.
Basically, the film takes place about twenty years after the original Mary Poppins and follows the Banks children. They are now grown up and they have problems if their own. Mary Poppins (Emily Blunt, in a pretty good imitation of the original Julie Andrews performance) shows up out of the air to take care of the Banks children while money problems are sorted out at the bank. Of course, this means there will will be lovely song and dance numbers with amazingly imaginative and magical set pieces. The standout being when Mary and the children jump into a porcelain bowl. It is reminiscent of the time when Mary, Bert and the children jumped into Bert’s chalk drawings, and like that scene, animation and live-action mixes together in a charming way (or a most delightful one?).
In any case, is the movie any good. The answer is yes. While the songs are not quite as memorable as the original (an admittedly high bar), they are very fun and entertaining, even a bit catchy. While none of them are the masterpieces of the original, Disney went well out of its way to catch the atmosphere and charm of the original. The songs are as timeless sounding as the original with nary a modern twist that would immediately date the original. This also goes with the atmosphere of the entire movie. A very annoying thing about Disney’s new live-action remakes of their old properties has been a ridiculously heavy handed social justice warrior tendency. The wolf pack of The Jungle Book is led by an alpha-female, Belle is a modern, independently minded woman, Malificent is a misunderstood and wronged party, Lafoux is gay, etc, etc, etc. While I have never had a problem with strong female protagonists, the tendency of the Disney movies of today is to insert very modern atttidues to very old stories. This tends to take me out of the story because of the obvious agenda that goes with each movie. Instead, create something new that makes these cases instead of falling on old stories but imprinting 21st century attitudes on 19th century individuals. It is sloppy and lazy writing.
That said, Mary Poppins Returns is a surprisingly wholesome and relatively agenda-free piece of entertainment that thoroughly does what it is supposed to do, entertain. Not preach. The movie is long on emotions and whimsy, which is just what Mary Poppins should be. The dance numbers are fun, but a tad unmemorable. I very much liked the film, and it was much better than I thought it would be, but it is not particularly a masterpiece. It is a perfectly acceptable and fun film that is great for all ages. I would recommend it for a fun, turn-your-brain-off-and-go piece of entertainment that should be loved by ironic-free minded people of all ages.
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