“Mary Poppins Returns” is an uninventive, nostalgic update to the original. While the star power and breezy plot might be enough to satisfy most moviegoers, closer inspection reveals a patched kite that could have flown much higher.
Gliding down by umbrella from the oodles of millions her and husband John Krasinski made in “A Quiet Place,” Emily Blunt takes on the role of Mary Poppins who has returned to the now adult Banks children, Michael (Ben Whishaw) and Jane (Emily Mortimer). Mary Poppins joins a lamplighter, Jack (Lin-Manuel Miranda), in shepherding Michael Banks’ children who have found themselves essentially orphaned with a deceased mother and artist father who has ineptly led the family into foreclosure. Michael and Jane spend the larger part of the film ineffectively trying to locate their father’s bank stock certificates to save the family home.
The film is enjoyable enough simply by the sheer star power. Emily Blunt and Lin-Manuel Miranda are perfect players for the Mary Poppins canon. Blunt plays a sharp, witty Mary Poppins and whether on stage or in film, Lin-Manuel Miranda has an infectious personality and charisma that brings on a smile.
That said, audiences will wish they were given more to work with in “Mary Poppins Returns.”
As a piece of storytelling, the movie under-delivers. Mary Poppins serves no real narrative purpose other than to distract the children from the fact their father’s saving grace are their grandfather’s stock certificates (thankfully redeemed free from any English estate tax). The conflict in the movie is also not compelling. Michael Banks is being evicted for not paying his mortgage for three months. It’s only at this point that Michael takes on a bank teller position and it’s never clear if his art is anything more than a hobby or a vain undertaking as he lives on the largesse of his father’s success. The magical nature of Mary Poppins seems to add little to no value until the very end of the film in which her last-second magical tactic undermines the very point of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s heroism, which begs the question why she let him endanger himself in the first place.
That said, audiences will appreciate the nostalgia of familiar plot point callbacks and cameos from the original. The film could have been overly reliant on nostalgia for cheap audience enjoyment, but remains politely eager to tell its own story (albeit a weak one).
“Mary Poppins Returns” was musically flat. For having the musical talents of Lin-Manuel Miranda (“Hamilton” and “Moana”) and Emily Blunt (“Into the Woods”), the musical numbers are mostly forgettable. In fact, the musical action almost precisely follows the track list skeleton of the original film replacing the iconic chimney sweeps with a lamplighter crew. The music paces like an old English carnival carousel rather than a 2018 update, which is why Miranda’s spoken word solo in the middle of the film feels so fresh and satisfying and likely what audiences hoped for and expected. There is no supercalifragilisticexpialidocious moment.
Thematically, the takeaways are a little strange. Lin-Manuel Miranda’s character seems to be stuck in cyclical poverty, but eagerly and enthusiastically comes to the aid of the Banks family who only escapes their financial plight by a last-minute discovery of an inheritance from first-generation wealth. Mary Poppins teaches no real lesson to the children, but does offer a master class in gaslighting for parents. The movie also conveys that there is something evil about a bank foreclosing on homes after three months of nonpayment — one wonders if the plot would have been more compelling if Mary Poppins had flown down as a certified financial planner to make long-term change for the Banks family. Will Michael’s bank teller post cover property taxes?
Audiences will enjoy “Mary Poppins Returns,” but may be reluctant to see the next iteration unless she blows back down for the next generation in 20 years. An underutilized cast and unpersuasive plot make for a slightly longer than two-hour story as forgettable as Mary Poppin’s departure into the clouds above.
Tyler Grant (@The_Tyler_Grant) is a Young Voices contributor, who completed a Fulbright Fellowship in Taiwan. He writes movie reviews for the Washington Examiner.
