Hollywood - and Disney - continues the repurposing and excavation of its past, creating new touchstones for younger generations, and a curious fusion of nostalgia and commerce for those fond of the originals. The trick is if the reimaginings are done with taste and affection for the source, which Mary Poppins Returns manages in excellent fashion.
Directed by Rob Marshall (Chicago), Mary Poppins Returns is a remake, masquerading as a sequel. For marketing purposes, the best of both worlds. The Banks children from the 1964 original are grown now, Michael (Ben Wishaw) with children of his own, still living in the beloved family home on Cherry Tree Lane. But times are grim: Michael's wife has passed away, and in a state of grieving befuddlement, he's managed to let finances slip into a sorry enough state that the bank is ready to repossess their home. The situation is dire.
What we need is a magical, ethereal governess to descend from the clouds and make sure the Banks children keep their spirits intact, while helping the now-grown children rediscover that spark of imagination they once had before loans and adulting blotted out the sun - and is Mary Poppins ever up for the task.
Sublimely cast as Mary Poppins, Emily Blunt brings her own spin to the character, less the serene kindness of Julie Andrews, and a bit more of an arch, mysterious sorceress, with crisp elocution and barbed mischief. It works. Blunt carries the picture, and brings real charisma and energy to the role, continuing the streak she's been on with Edge of Tomorrow and A Quiet Place. Like a self-aware alien among us, she knows she's an Other, a creature who exists outside of conventional realms of time and space. She insists on spreading whimsy, but demands the universe have order. Discord can only be allowed to be used for fun, it can't cause damage or harm.
Marshall has done a phenomenal job of evoking the lush studio filmmaking of old - when exterior locations were frequently obvious studio interiors, and matte paintings and choreography ruled the day. It's an incredible achievement, and the production design (by John Myhre) and art direction team seem to have time-traveled to another era, along with cinematographer Dion Beebe. There is phenomenal craftsmanship and talent on view in every frame.
It may be tempting to regard Mary Poppins Returns as a cynical commercial enterprise. Nearly every scene and song has a corollary in the original. Lin-Manuel Miranda's (of Hamilton fame) lamplighter is essentially Bert from the original. The lamplighter's big group number, Trip a Little Light Fantastic is the first film's Step in Time. An extremely odd Meryl Streep's Turning Turtle was for me, one of the film's few musical misfires, in its insistence on standing in for I Love to Laugh. Streep's Cousin Topsy just doesn't seem to fit. But the other songs are so overwhelmingly good, it's easy to overlook.
A bravura sequence mixes live action and animation within the confines of an antique china bowl, featuring the number A Cover Is Not The Book, an incredible departure that threatens to place our crisp nanny in Bob Fosse country. But it works! The energy, music and choreography of that sequence are jaw-dropping, giving Miranda a chance to make full use of his unbridled talents. It's a show-stopper.
Marshall gets the tone spit-spot - just so - throughout, evoking the magic and innocence reminiscent of a Harry Potter movie - though an early sequence of young Georgie Banks grappling with a runaway kite is cut more like a horror sequence - for a moment I thought this Georgie was about to suffer the fate of the Georgie from It.
It's going to be interesting to see how audiences connect with this faithful evocation of the old fashioned studio musical. Given how dark our times have been lately, I'd like to think we're hungry for this kind of hopeful innocence. Mary Poppins's message has always been about the power of the imagination to lighten us of our burdens, and the spirit of this marvelously wrought holiday entertainment provides just that and more for the entire family.
Directed by Rob Marshall (Chicago), Mary Poppins Returns is a remake, masquerading as a sequel. For marketing purposes, the best of both worlds. The Banks children from the 1964 original are grown now, Michael (Ben Wishaw) with children of his own, still living in the beloved family home on Cherry Tree Lane. But times are grim: Michael's wife has passed away, and in a state of grieving befuddlement, he's managed to let finances slip into a sorry enough state that the bank is ready to repossess their home. The situation is dire.
What we need is a magical, ethereal governess to descend from the clouds and make sure the Banks children keep their spirits intact, while helping the now-grown children rediscover that spark of imagination they once had before loans and adulting blotted out the sun - and is Mary Poppins ever up for the task.
Sublimely cast as Mary Poppins, Emily Blunt brings her own spin to the character, less the serene kindness of Julie Andrews, and a bit more of an arch, mysterious sorceress, with crisp elocution and barbed mischief. It works. Blunt carries the picture, and brings real charisma and energy to the role, continuing the streak she's been on with Edge of Tomorrow and A Quiet Place. Like a self-aware alien among us, she knows she's an Other, a creature who exists outside of conventional realms of time and space. She insists on spreading whimsy, but demands the universe have order. Discord can only be allowed to be used for fun, it can't cause damage or harm.
Marshall has done a phenomenal job of evoking the lush studio filmmaking of old - when exterior locations were frequently obvious studio interiors, and matte paintings and choreography ruled the day. It's an incredible achievement, and the production design (by John Myhre) and art direction team seem to have time-traveled to another era, along with cinematographer Dion Beebe. There is phenomenal craftsmanship and talent on view in every frame.
It may be tempting to regard Mary Poppins Returns as a cynical commercial enterprise. Nearly every scene and song has a corollary in the original. Lin-Manuel Miranda's (of Hamilton fame) lamplighter is essentially Bert from the original. The lamplighter's big group number, Trip a Little Light Fantastic is the first film's Step in Time. An extremely odd Meryl Streep's Turning Turtle was for me, one of the film's few musical misfires, in its insistence on standing in for I Love to Laugh. Streep's Cousin Topsy just doesn't seem to fit. But the other songs are so overwhelmingly good, it's easy to overlook.
A bravura sequence mixes live action and animation within the confines of an antique china bowl, featuring the number A Cover Is Not The Book, an incredible departure that threatens to place our crisp nanny in Bob Fosse country. But it works! The energy, music and choreography of that sequence are jaw-dropping, giving Miranda a chance to make full use of his unbridled talents. It's a show-stopper.
Marshall gets the tone spit-spot - just so - throughout, evoking the magic and innocence reminiscent of a Harry Potter movie - though an early sequence of young Georgie Banks grappling with a runaway kite is cut more like a horror sequence - for a moment I thought this Georgie was about to suffer the fate of the Georgie from It.
It's going to be interesting to see how audiences connect with this faithful evocation of the old fashioned studio musical. Given how dark our times have been lately, I'd like to think we're hungry for this kind of hopeful innocence. Mary Poppins's message has always been about the power of the imagination to lighten us of our burdens, and the spirit of this marvelously wrought holiday entertainment provides just that and more for the entire family.
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