Review of Mary Poppins Returns (2018) by Mark S — 04 Jan 2019

As a fan of the P.L. Travers Mary Poppins books, I was anxious to see this sequel. Knowing that Travers intensely disliked the first movie and the "pop" score, I wondered how director Rob Marshall would approach the movie. Marshall is a brilliant Broadway director and his filmed version of Chicago reflected his theater aesthetic. You could feel his expert touch in every aspect of Mary Poppins. First of all, the cast is perfection. Emily Blunt was an inspired choice -- she is perfect as Poppins. I have seen Miranda in both his roles on Broadway and he is excellent here in an entirely new dimension for his repertoire. Ok, maybe the Cockney accent is not his forte but his performance was pure and emotional and his musical numbers were nothing short of amazing. The score was lush and beautifully complex. And the songs were the same -- complex with utterly clever lyrics. As in the best of Broadway, the songs emerged from plot and character. The team resisted the urge to throw in the catchy pop songs that Travers resented. ;And they were far more moving than the beautiful little trifles that we can all sing from the original. For the most part, they land in your heart. They may not all be "sing a long" songs for children but that is also true in the best Broadway shows. Listening to the album, I was struck again by the music in this film -- they are literally uplifting even the ballad. There is a reason two of these songs have been short listed for the Oscars. Overall you leave this movie with your spirit uplifted There seems to be the DNA of joy incorporated in most every scene.

I saw this movie with my husband and we loved it so much we went back so we could take some children and we loved it even more seeing it through their eyes.