Movie Review: Mary Poppins Returns (2018)

Mary Poppins Returns (2018) directed by Rob Marshall

About thirty years after the original Mary Poppins movie, grown-up Michael Banks (Ben Whishaw) is a recent widower with three children. He struggles to make ends meet, since he's had a hard time adjusting and his wife was the one to do the books. One day, some lawyers from the bank come knocking on the door, threatening to repossess the house. He's an employee of the bank as was his father. Little clemency is offered by bank head Wilkins (Colin Firth). The family owns shares in the bank but can't produce the certificate to prove it. If they could find it, they'd keep the house. In this time of crisis, who should show up but Mary Poppins (Emily Blunt). Can she restore the joy of youth to the kids (who have had to take on too many adult responsibilities) as well as to Michael and his sister Jane (Emily Mortimer), who fights for workers' rights much as her mother did for women's suffrage?

The movie starts off a little slow and dark but soon hits its stride. Lin-Manuel Miranda plays Jack, who basically serves the narrative purpose that Burt (Dick van Dyke) did in the original film. He's an everyman who knows Mary Poppins and spends most of his time joining her and the kids on adventures. The Burt/Mary romantic undertones are completely gone because Jack is interested in Jane Banks. Jack is a fine dance and duet partner for Mary Poppins. The low energy of the first few songs gets washed away by much stronger material in the middle and the end. Blunt does a great job as the title character. The fantasy sequences are amazing to look at and fun. Naturally, the movie has an upbeat finale that really shows the joy Mary reinjects into the Banks family's lives.

While it's not great like the original (which is an almost impossibly high bar to reach), this film is a lot of fun and worth watching. The songs are enjoyable but not particularly memorable and the plot is very familiar but still enjoyable.

Recommended.

Movie Review: Saving Mr. Banks (2013)

Saving Mr. Banks (2013) directed by John Lee Hancock

Walt Disney spent twenty years trying to get the film rights to P. L. Travers's Mary Poppins novels. This movie focuses on Travers, who is in a tricky situation. Royalties have been drying up, so she could use the money. But she truly dreads the Disney-fication of her beloved Mary Poppins. She doesn't want animation or any silly prancing and dancing about. She decides to go to Los Angeles to work on the script and reassure herself that they won't mess it up. She meets with Walt and starts working with the script writer and two song writers. Things do not go well. She hasn't signed the rights away yet, so they have to do everything they can to convince her. A clash of cultures and personalities ensues.

Intercut with the Hollywood story is Travers's childhood memories from living in Australia, where her family struggles under her father's depression and alcoholism. She as a child is blissfully unaware of the problems because the father is a bit of a dreamer and story teller. He calls his daughter a princess and makes up fantastic tales about people turned into animals and such. Her childhood explains a lot about her attitudes and desires. Emma Thompson gives a great performance as the adult Travers and the rest of the cast is good too.

The movie is a great dramatic story with a satisfying narrative conclusion. My only difficulty is the conclusion that I drew afterwards--I suspect much of the movie is a fabrication for dramatic effect. As a historically-based film, I consider this more like Shadow of the Vampire than Patton.