livstevi21

...So, I got back from seeing Mary Poppins Returns about an hour ago and I have....eh...mixed feelings about it. I liked the opening scene with Lin-Manuel Miranda as Jack and the first half hour of the film was good. Not brilliant, but good. I liked the fact that Michael Banks still lived in his and Jane's old childhood home with his three children. The children were sweet. Ben Whishaw was fantastic as Michael (very much a resemblance to his father) and I liked Emily Mortimer as Jane Banks. Julie Walters was fun as Ellen the housekeeper. Obviously Julie loves playing housekeepers, as she played Mrs Bird in Paddington and Paddington 2 (with coincidentally Ben Whishaw as the voice of Paddington).

I liked how the kite and other keepsakes and memories made an appearance from Michael and Jane's childhood. I thought Emily Blunt's entrance as Mary Poppins was nice, and I cannot fault Emily at all with her portrayal. Her Mary Poppins is obviously quite different to Dame Julie Andrews's Mary Poppins, but I liked her well enough, Emily is wonderful. She sings very well too, though again, her voice, nay, no one's voice could ever match Julie's perfect voice.

The songs....are a mix. I'm sorry to say not one of them stuck in my head like the songs in the original. I liked the opening song, Lovely London Sky. Michael's song A Conversation was sad and sweet. Can You Imagine That was a lot of fun and I very much enjoyed the bath scene going into the ocean. The scene where they go into the children's mother's porcelain bowl was clever and imaginative, trying to replicate the scene in the pavement painting. Whilst it was good at first, and the return of 2D animation a wonderful to see, I started to wain a bit. Royal Dalton Musical Hall was a fine enough song. But not a patch on A Jolly Holiday With Mary and as for the A Cover Is Not the Book, that song is going to have to grow on me. I really didn't like that song and I think it was trying way too hard to replicate the magic of the classic Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. Nice to see the dancing penguins...but yeah. I found it all a little....twee? Like, Mary and Jack's costumes were way too bright and colourful....I dunno it was a great performance enough I guess. But what came after it I REALLY didn't like at all. Georgie finds one of the cartoons a wolf, (supposed to represent William "Weatherall" Wilkins, the 'villain' of the film - and I had a huge problem with that but I'll get back to that later) has stolen his favourite toy and the rest of the children's possessions so Georgie goes after them and gets 'kidnapped' so his siblings chase after him in this ridiculous 'dramatic' chase scene. The children soon find themselves awake from their beds, so I guess it was supposed to look like they were only dreaming it, but still...I did not like it at all.

I won't go into too much more detail, but I'm afraid it got even worse for me. I hated, hated hated the scene with Meryl Streep's character, Topsy, whom Mary takes the children and Jack to get the bowl fixed. The song was absolutely awful, awful awful awful. Worst song in the entire film. I love Meryl Streep but dear god her character had no place in this film whatsoever.

The whole 'villain' thing with Colin Firth's character, was also unnecessary. There was no villain in the original. It was not needed and felt very pantomime. The original, whilst whimsical and magical at least had a touch of realism and reality to it. But this didn't feel right at all. However, I loved Dick Van Dyke's appearance at the very end and I also loved Angela Lansbury's cameo too.

I did enjoy the "Trip a Little Light Fantastic" segment, but that was nowhere near as spectacular as Step in Time. I liked the song "The Place Where Lost Things Go". The ending was....ok. Cute enough I guess. But I didn't get that feeling I do with Let's Go Fly a Kite.

I felt like the kids didn't really have to go through as much a life's journey with Mary Poppins as Jane and Michael did when they were children. They were well behaved and well meaning and actually quite grown up for their age. I wish there was more about their mother, there really wasn't much we learned about her and we only had one scene where the children talked about her. So it was really Michael that Mary had to save, (which I guess in way is quite clever since it was actually George Banks Mary came to save in the original and not the children) and he ended up having to learn the same lesson his father did, having forgotten what it was like to be a child.

I do have a lot more to say, but for now I'll leave it there. All in all, I wasn't particularly impressed. I wasn't really expecting much and I knew it obviously wouldn't be a patch on the original but I was hoping for a little more. The acting was very good. Production and shots nicely recaptured some of the imagery of the original. I smiled in places, got a chuckle in a couple of scenes. None of the songs struck out to me, made me feel that magical feeling. So yeah...that's my thoughts on Mary Poppins Returns for now. Would I see it again? ....Maybe.

My Kind Of Crazy

i agree with you on Meryl Streep character. i thought she was terrible too. no idea what they were thinking putting her in that movie.

i though the songs were ok not as catchy as the original movie songs but still enjoyable. i think this is one of those movies you gotta watch a few times before you fully can enjoy/appreciate it.

GardenSirens

would have been nice for Julie Andrews to make a cameo in this.

My Kind Of Crazy

she said she didnt want to do it cuz she didnt want to take away from emily blunts role. but that didnt stop dick van dyke from making a cameo.

Melis

I liked his part in it.

msstock87

I understand why she did not want to make a cameo, but it would have been nice to see her.


I keep hearing mixed things about it, but I am really looking forward to it.

livstevi21

Right? I didn't get her as Mary's cousin. I much prefer the scene with laughing Uncle Albert in the first film. Was he Mary's uncle? We never were really told if he was her relative like Topsy..but yeah. True, it probably does need further viewings to appreciate it more. but I'm not sure I'll grow to love it, maybe I can enjoy some of the songs more. We'll see.

I think a lot of people will/have come away with varying thoughts and opinions on the film. But knowing that definitely doesn't have to take away your own excitement in seeing it.

GardenSirens

gotta respect that for sure.

msstock87

I still am looking forward to seeing it.

My Kind Of Crazy

i thought albert was bert's uncle ? i guess i need to rewatch the original again.

they released the clip of dick van dyke cameo from teh new movie

msstock87

Thanks for that clip!

livstevi21

Oh true, come to think of it, you might be right. Albert probably was Bert's uncle.

My Kind Of Crazy

yeah im pretty sure he was

msstock87

I need to re watch the original as well.

My Kind Of Crazy