Mary Poppins Returns

Rating: 4.5/5

With a brilliant performance by its' lead, Mary Poppins Returns is a wonderful echo to the past.

Amid the 1930's, Michael Banks (Ben Whishaw) has fallen on hard times. His wife has passed away, and he is in danger of losing his home. His three children, Anabel (Pixie Davies), John (Nathanael Saleh), and Georgie (Joel Dawson), are putting on a brave face, and trying their best to look after their father. Also helping is Michael's sister, Jane (Emily Mortimer), who is taking time away from her work as an activist for the working class, in order to try and help her brother keep their family home.

Though Anabel and John are working very hard at being responsible and watching out for Georgie, they lose track of him on their way to the market. Georgie, who ran from his siblings while chasing a kite, bumps into a lamplighter named Jack (Lin-Manuel Miranda). Jack tries to help Georgie pull in his kite, when they both discover that the kite is not all that's at the end of the string. Much to Jane and Michal's shock, Mary Poppins (Emily Blunt) has returned, and is once again ready to put the lives of the Banks family back in the right direction.

If it weren't for the clarity of the film quality and the impressive special effects, it wouldn't be hard to imagine that Mary Poppins Returns came out in the days of the classic 60's musicals. The music, story, and dances all whisper back to a more innocent time in the world of film. I really feel as if this movie will get a new generation of film goers interested into the older style of film, and remind them to be enchanted by the whimsy of dancing with cartoons and wonderfully over the top musical numbers.

When I heard that they were making a sequel to Mary Poppins, I was slightly pensive at first, but when I heard who the lead was going to played by, all my worries went away. Taking on a role as legendary as Mary Poppins, is no easy task, but Emily Blunt is more than fit for the challenge. From the moment she comes on the screen, there is no doubting that she is Mary Poppins through and through. She is able to take the well known mannerisms of the character, such as the flagrant vanity and posh way of speaking, and completely come into the role with her own personal twist. Blunt doesn't completely copy every trait created by Julie Andrews, but she mimics it enough to appease the fans of the original and charm the viewers who are experiencing Mary Poppins' magic for the first time.

Mary Poppins Returns doesn't exactly tell a brand new story, as it follows many of the same patterns as the original. For me, I don't see anything particularly wrong with that. Even if the general outline of both films are virtually the same, they are both marvelously enjoyable. Given that Mary Poppins Returns is only supposed to take place roughly 20-25 years after her first appearance in the Banks household and the fact that Mary Poppins never ages, it makes complete sense that the two stories would be so similar.

It is truly amazing how well the new songs were able to emulate the musical style of the original. It just shows how hard the entirety of the film worked on staying respectful to its' source material. It is the wonderful songs and overwhelming sense of nostalgia that makes Mary Poppins Returns practically perfect in every way.