It is with
some delight that in these days, when at least one person can’t take the hint
that’s he worn out his welcome, we can report that another wonderful person
from our distant past has come back. It
is nice, and yes comforting, to see the fairy godmother of the Banks children
descend once again to save them. This
time it’s the next generation Banks offspring who need assistance. If only she could save the rest of us from the
world around us. Alas, that is too big of
a job even for her.
Emily Blunt
inherited the role of the iconic nanny from Julie Andrews, and proves to be
every bit as stern, then whimsical as the original. She cleans, she dances, she
tucks her charges in at night, even as the original children she nannied are
now grown and too busy being adults to enjoy quality time with their
children.
The plot has
Michael (Ben Witshaw stretching his acting chops away from his role as the young,
geeky, tech genius Q in the James Bond franchise) and Jane (Emily Mortimer)
fending off the foreclosure wolves at the door of the Banks homestead. Yes, the plot is a relic from the dustbins of
Victorian Era melodramas, but who notices in the midst of all the dazzling special
effects? The story resolution is
telegraphed rather early on when Michael finds his old kite in the attic as he
searches for his father’s bank bonds which could save them from eviction. Even then, it takes a while for everyone to
figure out that the solution could have been flying in front of their faces the
entire time.
Present
throughout the proceedings is Jack (Lin-Manual Miranda), a lamplighter. He goes about London turning off gas street
lamps in the morning, turning them up again at dusk, and always available to
accompany Mary Poppins and the Banks children on their fantastical
adventures. I’m still trying to figure
out when the poor fellow gets to sleep.
So, while
Papa Banks frets, the nanny and the children have a grand old time in alternate
universes via the family bathtub and a piece of pottery that was priceless to
the children’s late mother. The young
ones discovering Mary Poppins for the first time will be amused by the animated
penguins in one of the fantasies, while their parents will lose themselves in
the nostalgia when they first saw these same penguins over 50 years ago.
These side
trips into the fantastical is a lesson for the Banks children (both
generations) and the film audience (all generations) that everything is
possible, even the impossible. Boy, do
we need to keep this lesson in mind, especially this year!
Unfortunately,
the side trips must come to an end, crises must be confronted, plots must be
resolved and kites must be flown. The
finale, a mad midnight (or is it really midnight?) dash to the office of the
greedy bank officer (Colin Firth) who covets the Banks homestead is not subtle,
but damn it’s exciting.
The production
is delightful, the songs catchy but not memorable, and the performances are
full of surprises. To be fair, the songs
only seem less memorable to me because as a child I played the soundtrack of
the original Mary Poppins film to death. I could probably do the same now with
the soundtrack from Mary Poppins Returns, but I’m too busy doing adult
things. Let the young ones discover and
cherish the current production for their memories.
Mary Poppins
Returns both adds to and points out glaring flaws of the original. According to Disney, the whole populace of Victorian
London was portrayed in the original Mary Poppins as lily-white. Mary Poppins Returns shows a London that is multi-cultural. Kudos to The Disney Company for finally seeing
the light of diversity after 50 years!
Among the
surprises are a turn by Meryl Streep as Mary Poppins' aunt whose life is literally
upside down, not unlike Ed Wynn’s Uncle Albert in the original. And it is so nice to see Navckid Keyd in only
his second film role in over 50 years.
(Yes, that’s an in-joke.) His
cameo was long awaited and saved (strategically) for near the end.
And in the
end? Everyone with a pure heart gets to float
up into the atmosphere, while the purest of them all leaves the wretched refuse
of humanity behind. Yes, she leaves us
all again and we are teary-eyed at the realization that us and the world around
us are not good enough for the likes of Mary Poppins.
Please, Mary
Poppins, don’t make us wait another 50 years to come back.
(Thank you for
reading. Next sequel: Mary Poppins Meets
Hitler.)