"Mary Poppins Returns"
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Anybody seen this yet? I saw it last night, and won't post a full review now but will note one observation: The songs in the 1964 "Mary Poppins," written by Richard and Robert Sherman, were incredibly catchy. A couple tunes in the new sequal just teeter on the edge of being memorable without quite getting there. At several points I found myself thinking, "They really needed Paul McCartney to write the songs for this thing. "
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We saw it Christmas night, and I found "Mary Poppins Returns" often charming, delightful and entertaining although as you pointed out, the music was not distinguished or very memorable, upon first listening at least; except for the touching ballad "The Land of Lost Things" or its name was something like that. Maybe they should have gotten Lin Manual Miranda (who played Jack the lamplighter in a charming manner) to score the film? Or Macca ! Or Stephen Sondheim or his ilk. The three irrepressible, darling child stars really made the movie, to me. They were quite expressive and riveting. So cute! Emily Blunt is wonderful as "Mary Poppins" the magical nanny, when she gets to lead them in fantastic scenes of whimsey and animated fun. I always liked Emily Mortimer, and Ben Wishaw (he played poet John Keats in "Bright Star") is sensitive yet can be forceful, while Julie Walters is also a favorite. Meryl Streep performs a really bizarre surreal turn as Mary's exotic topsy turvy cousin ! That frantic overwrought histrionic scene made me dizzy ! Colin Firth was effective albeit a bit tiresome as the broadly portrayed bad guy. He did give it his all. It's a treat to see Dick Van Dyke and Angela Lansbury enliven some of the final scenes. The supporting players make a big impression, too. David Warner is trotted out as a grouchy but warm-hearted navy captain. I hope they make another of these, as this is a series of classic British novels. "Mary Poppins Returns" the musical ends in such a huge colorful burst of joy and hope, in a quaint-looking London with blue skies, on a real feel-good note.
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I absolutely loved, loved, loved Mary Poppins Returns. I thought the songs were very memorable, which shocked me a tad. I have a huge crush on Emily Blunt; her performance in "Sicario" was simply amazing; she was robbed of an Oscar. The only scene that didn't work for me was Meryl Streeps' performance. Very odd, and didn't really click with my audience. Ben Wishaw was perfect. And Dick Van Dyke? Almost stole the movie in his three minutes!!
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FWIW, I thought Dick Van Dyke's spot was the highlight. Mostly I liked the movie, but mainly because of the actors playing the entire Banks family, who were lovely. Emily Blunt's version of Mary didn't really work for me. She came across as someone that nobody would really want to spend much time with if she didn't do magic from time to time.
I was kind of puzzled by Angela Lansbury's bit. She's another of those great performers it's always good to see (I've been lucky enough to see her on stage twice, in "Sweeney Todd" and "Blythe Spirit"), but her scene was clearly written for the purpose of offering a cameo to Julie Andrews. Andrews declined, it's been reported, because she didn't want to crowd in on Emily Blunt's moment, a fine sentiment. But without her there was no reason for 3/4 of what Lansbury did, besides handing out the balloons and saying, "Be sure to take the right one."
I went into the moving wanting to love it and fearing I'd hate it, but came out sorta in between. But they really did need Paul to write the songs, IMHO.
Here's an interesting take on the film's ending [SPOILER ALERT!!!]
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Ah! I just found a review that perfectly captures how I feel about it overall.
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I saw the actress interviewed on Colbert. She is a DARLING!! Will watch it asap.
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I still prefer the original Disney Mary Poppins I have not decided if ai wan t to see it or not.
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I saw it the other day. Wish the songs were more catchy and memorable. The only one that sorta stuck was "Tripping the Light Fantastic." Dick van Dyke's bit was brilliant.
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Tori in Texas wrote:
I saw it the other day. Wish the songs were more catchy and memorable. The only one that sorta stuck was "Tripping the Light Fantastic." Dick van Dyke's bit was brilliant.
Gonna agree with you there. Despite my generally mixed feelings about the film overall, seeing 92-year-old Dick Van Dyke just nailing a key moment in the movie was glorious. May he live forever.
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When I first heard about this movie, I hated the idea. Someone besides Julie Andrews as Mary Poppins sounds like remaking A Hard Day's Night with a modern boy band. I know this isn't a remake, but P.L. Travers was not exactly thrilled about more movies.
But then I heard that Julie Andrews approves. That's good enough for me.
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A new sequel is planned, since there were eight books in the Mary Poppins series, and this current sequel is a hit. Emily Blunt gets to star as the magical nanny again. I hope she'll have more to do in the last part of the movie next time.
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They'll make sequels as long as they keep making money. That's how Hollywood works. If something looks like a sure bet to make a profit, they'll beat it to death until people get bored and stop buying tickets. I've reached that point with this first sequel, but I'm probably in a minority.
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I never saw the original with Julie Andrews, so that might have helped my reaction to "Mary Poppins Returns" not having the first to compare. I find this one pretty delightful. Remember it's mainly meant for children, one would think. When it got all weird and manic and crazy I recalled that factor. A couple of scenes were almost exhausting, but wouldn't be for kids, they'd love it.
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SusyLuvsPaul wrote:
I never saw the original with Julie Andrews, so that might have helped my reaction to "Mary Poppins Returns" not having the first to compare. I find this one pretty delightful. Remember it's mainly meant for children, one would think. When it got all weird and manic and crazy I recalled that factor. A couple of scenes were almost exhausting, but wouldn't be for kids, they'd love it.
You are definitely in the minority if you’ve never seen the original Mary Poppins! Have you seen The Sound Of Music?
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I wonder what the new movie would be like if you'd never seen the original. To me it tries so, so hard to be like the original -- with plots so parallel at times that it verges on being a remake rather than a sequel -- but doesn't quite get there, in part because it you can feel the effort so much. But the biggest difference to me is that the songs in the original were just effortlessly, unbelievably catchy. The Sherman brothers sure knew how to create earworms. If they really want to do another, they should get McCartney to write the songs.
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SusyLuvsPaul wrote:
I never saw the original with Julie Andrews, so that might have helped my reaction to "Mary Poppins Returns" not having the first to compare. I find this one pretty delightful. Remember it's mainly meant for children, one would think. When it got all weird and manic and crazy I recalled that factor. A couple of scenes were almost exhausting, but wouldn't be for kids, they'd love it.
In the first movie, they jump into a sidewalk drawing and race carousel horses. They also get high by laughing and the children get so wasted on sugar that their room cleans itself. Mary Poppins herself uses an umbrella to fly. It's not exactly realism.
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I am a huge fan of the original Mary Poppins. I believe it was the first movie I attended (was 6 or 7); still remember driving with my parents for about an hour, standing in a line, running into friends from my elementary school, and having to sit in the second row. Great Memories! So naturally, I was an opening day attendee for Mary Poppins Returns, accompanied by both my mid-20's children and wife. And boy did I love every second. Of course I'm a big fan of Emily Blunt; thought she was simply amazing in "Sicario", and she was just perfect in MPR. And the actor who played Michael (Ben Whishaw) was simply superb. Had a simply marvelous time.
