Monday, July 01, 2019
Mary Poppins Returns
- Commentary: Yep, yep, yep, I bought this movie on a whim when I saw it at Costco (which, by the way, almost never carries movies anymore, unless the movies are theater blockbusters), without consideration, even though my initial reaction to the first Mary Poppins was disappointment (which I wrote about in the review for that movie).
Not disappointed, this time. First of all, I adore Emily Blunt's work and was excited to see her as Mary Poppins. She is, yes, Mary Poppins' (Julie Andrews') improved-edition daughter. Second, I knew that even if I was ambivalent about this one, I would watch it with much nostalgia and would want to buy it. So I didn't bother to check it out of the library (which the length of the hold list promised wouldn't be available to me for at least a couple of months) before purchasing it. Third, I don't know, something about Mom and her enjoyment of the first Mary Poppins movie, something about my sisters and me as kids in Honolulu that summer when we saw the first Mary Poppins, blah, blah, blah ... well, Mary Poppins Returns more than met my expectations. Emily Blunt kills it! The script is, well, it's a "Mary Poppins" script, but it's interesting and the historical timing works with the story. The songs are fun and catchy and, frankly, in my opinion, the musical accompaniment is better, more musically magical, than in the first Mary Poppins movie. I like Jack better in this movie than Bert in the last, but I think that's because it was impossible, in the first, to think of Bert as not-Dick-Van-Dyke. In this movie Jack is just Jack for me. I find it interesting, though, that Bert, who was a jack-of-all-trades (primarily a chimney sweep), is transformed into "Jack" in this sequel. Also, I seem to remember that Bert was more integral to the story than is Jack, but that's one of the reasons I'm planning on watching the 1964 movie again before rewatching this one. Oh, yeah, and the star cameos! Yikes! It seems that everyone wanted to get into this one, including some of the cast for the original Mary Poppins! Hello, Bert ...
I have yet to watch this new one a second time, but I want to watch the original before watching this one again. Just for some comparison fun.
You know, I'd like to see Mary Poppins updated for the 1960's ... can you imagine that? With the music and fashion revolutions that were going on, especially in England, but in the U.S., as well, and, how about an update for the 2000's ... and, say, for every thirty-five to forty years, for every generation, as MCN would say, "Wouldn't that be fun?" I wonder if anyone (with greedy pockets, of course), is considering that ...
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Emily Blunt Mary Poppins Lin-Manuel Miranda Jack Ben Whishaw Michael Banks Emily Mortimer Jane Banks Julie Walters Housekeeper Ellen Pixie Davies Annabel Banks Nathanael Saleh John Banks Joel Dawson Georgie Banks Colin Firth William Wilkins Meryl Streep Topsy David Warner Admiral Boom Jim Norton Mr. Binnacle Jeremy Swift Hamilton Gooding Kobna Holdbrook-Smith Templeton Frye Angela Lansbury Balloon Lady Dick Van Dyke Mr. Dawes Jr.
Just in case, here's the Wikipedia write-up for the movie.
Release Date: 2018
Directed by Rob Marshall.
Labels: angela-lansbury, colin-firth, emily-blunt, emily-mortimer, kids, meryl-streep, musical1, period1, popcorn-and-soda2
