Tropic Sprockets /  Mary Poppins Returns

By Ian Brockway

Guess who’s back? It’s Mary Poppins in the long awaited sequel from Disney, “Mary Poppins Returns.” The film features some dazzling color, rousing musical numbers and buoyant animation, but it just misses the Pop Art impact of the original.

The film begins with lamplighter Jack (an apprentice of the Bert character from the first film, played by Lin-Manuel Miranda) singing an airy song about looking on the bright side.

Young Georgie (Joel Dawson) loses the family kite, but all of a sudden from the parting of a cloud comes Poppins in rather Biblical fashion.

Poppins knows all of the Banks children beforehand, even Annabel (Pixie Davies) and John (Nathanael Saleh). In fact, the supernatural nanny knows everyone and she’s here to make things right.

Michael Banks (Ben Whished) is an unhappy bank clerk and part time painter grieving the death of his wife. Jane (Emily Mortimer) is his socially conscious sister.

Emily Blunt does very well in the legendary part. She is less bubbly and a bit snippish, yet still charismatic and charming. Though her Poppins is of a different shade, she is wondrous and carries the film. Blunt is in nearly every segment and commands the screen.

The music is joyful and spirited if a bit ephemeral and not quite as infectious as the first film. The animated sequences are frenetic and festive, bursting with color and prismatic bubbles, it is only that the laughing whales and tittering beavers lack a bit of spontaneity, but younger audiences will have much to delight in.

This is a battle of wills Disney style, the family is struggling to keep their beloved house pitted against the heartless bank president (Colin Firth) who holds their loan and demands payment in full.

A highlight is Meryl Streep who plays Topsy, the nanny’s quirky cousin who lives upside down. Streep is a living cartoon, she is a joy to watch and has the best number in the film.

The iconic Dick Van Dyke appears as Mr. Dawes, the patriarch of the bank who chastises the president and rules in Michael’s favor. At 93, he dances and still brings a smile.

Though the narrative is still predictable and the animated sequences lack the previous sense of surprise, the acting is affecting, Ben Wishaw emotes a sense of sympathy and Emily Blunt is both a catty disciplinarian and a sorceress of sarcasm.

Rob Marshall’s sequel may not be a total spoonful of sugar but there is enough of Poppins here to titter over, especially for those of us undisciplined in 1964.

Write Ian at [email protected]

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