Mary Poppins Returns reviews

[Mister Tee]

Did you ever see The Simpsons' parody of Mary Poppins? It was called Sherry Bobbins, and it avoided copyright issues by not using any of the Disney film's music, but crafting songs that were so suggestive of the originals you couldn't miss the references.

Who knew the makers of Mary Poppins Returns would use that as their model?

I mean, I'd heard this movie was similar to the original, but I had no idea how blatantly it would lift its entire structure. The Banks family is in chaos. A discarded item soars to the sky and summons Mary Poppins. She shows the children magic in an upstairs room (after which, the youngest suggests they do it all again). They visit a Poppins relative who's defying gravity (but, instead of drifting to the ceiling, the room turns upside down and they go to the floor -- TOTALLY DIFFERENT!). They magically slide into an artwork (china piece this time, rather than chalk pavement picture) and perform in an animated sequence. The kids go to the bank and cause a scene, leaving their father humiliated -- but cheer themselves up by joining a big dance number with the chimney sweeps/lamp-lighters. And for a happy ending, they go to a park and join crowds flying stringed items (balloons this time instead of kites -- again, TOTALLY DIFFERENT!) Apparently I was too tough on Paul Schrader earlier this year -- I hadn't realized self-plagiarism was now de rigueur.

The one tiny narrative difference is emblematic of the degradation of movie story-telling in our era. The original film was happy to have "father's too wrapped up in business to see the importance of charity and imagination" as basis. For this version, we need a snarly villain (Colin Firth, whose moustache conveys his evilness before his actions do) to set in motion a rickety "threat of losing the homestead" plot (something from nickelodeon days), leading to the all-too-familiar (this time literal) race against the clock finale.

Given all that, is the movie at all enjoyable? I guess, for younger kids not so familiar with the original (though they'd then miss some of the references -- like "I knew a man with a wooden leg..."). It's for sure pretty (kudos again to Sandy Powell). And some of the numbers are staged well enough. The score is mostly unmemorable -- certainly matched against the original, which had something like half a dozen iconic tunes. But Where the Lost Things Go is a genuinely sweet ballad, and Trip A Little Light Fantastic isn't bad (though the number went on so long, I found I drifted before it reached its end).

Emily Blunt is probably as good a choice for this role as anyone out there, and she acquits herself perfectly well. But the whole best actress nomination scenario seems based entirely on narrative, not performance (and comes from people who don't understand that a large part of the reason Julie Andrews won was not the role or performance, but public sympathy for being passed over for Eliza Dolittle). Ben Whishaw and Emily Mortimer are well-cast: they seem the sort of adults Jane and Michael might have grown up to be -- but they kind of disappear into background most of the way. (Oh, and I almost forgot: Jane is a crusader for helping the poor -- which is TOTALLY DIFFERENT! from Glynis Johns' suffragette routine.)

It was nostalgic fun seeing Dick van Dyke (and even the reprise of his anagrammed credit from the original). But...refresh my memory...wasn't it kind of an important plot point that Michael DIDN'T invest his tuppence in the bank? Not to mention, given the arrival of the Great Depression in-between, is it remotely believable tuppence invested in 1910 would yield a veritable fortune by the late 40s? (And, tangential concern: isn't it awkward to revive thoughts of Fidelity Fiduciary Bank, a song devoted to the glories of colonial capitalism?)

[The Original BJ]

This seems to have shot up Oscar prediction lists this week, and now having seen it, I'm not remotely sure why. Obviously there is strong below-the-line potential -- at least one song nom is a gimme, and there's a good chance Sandy Powell will be duking it out with herself this year for the costume prize, as her work here is stunning as always. But there isn't much recent precedent for a movie this juvenile getting major nominations. And even other sort-of similar candidates fell short -- Rob Marshall's last musical (Into the Woods) was vastly superior and was only a marginal player, and Disney's most recent Mary Poppins-themed effort (Saving Mr. Banks) was much more adult and barely made an Oscar ripple. Are folks just assuming the fact that it will likely make a ton of money will turn this into a contender?

The film's most obvious limitation is that we're almost entirely in sequel-as-remake territory, as virtually every beat in the film has some parallel to the earlier installment. The songs, especially, really feel like they're just fitting into familiar slots -- the Mary Poppins lullaby to the children, an adventure into a mostly animated world, a comic song featuring an eccentric character on the ceiling, a big chimney sweep dance number, a finale where the family flies something. And even the story's thematic beats are lifted, as Mary Poppins hasn't come to save the children, she's come to save... well you know. I find the original Mary Poppins quite delightful -- and it's not just childhood nostalgia speaking, as I didn't actually see the original until college -- but if I wanted to see this same story again, why wouldn't I just watch the original, which is less derivative and has better music to boot?

This is not to say the film is completely without enjoyable moments, and having Emily Blunt at its center is a real gift. I don't think there's an actress alive who is more perfect to play Mary Poppins than Blunt, and her acerbic sense of humor (whether in line readings or facial expressions), musical showmanship, and warmth make her a delight throughout, and a worthy successor to Julie Andrews. I tend to think this will be yet another year she finds herself just outside the Oscar list (sort of like Amy Adams/Enchanted) but at this point Best Actress is such a train wreck of strong competitors, I can't claim to have any idea how that's all going to shake out. Lin Manuel-Miranda didn't impress me remotely as much -- while he's a supremely talented writer/composer, he seems like the kind of performer who only really excels with his own material, crafted to fit his strengths. Here, the fact that he's just not much of a singer is an issue, given how many numbers he has.

Meryl Streep, probably to the surprise of no one, is very funny in her one number. And I definitely smiled at the appearances of both 90-something old timers (though the climax basically amounts to a Dick van Dyke ex machina.)