MARY POPPINS RETURNS - Musical Fantasy Film Framed As A Homage

USPA NEWS - "MARY POPPINS RETURNS" is a 2018 American Musical Fantasy Film based on the Book Series of the Same Name by P. L. TRAVERS (Sequel to 1964's Mary Poppins).

Directed by : Rob Marshall
Produced by : Rob Marshall, John DeLuca, Marc Platt
Screenplay by : David Magee
Story by : David Magee, Rob Marshall, John DeLuca
Based on : "Mary Poppins" by P. L. Travers
Starring : Emily Blunt, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ben Whishaw, Emily Mortimer, Julie Walters, Dick Van Dyke, Angela Lansbury, Colin Firth, Meryl Streep
Distributed by : Walt Disney Studios, Motion Pictures
Running Time : 130 minutes
Release Dates : November 29, 2018 (Dolby Theatre), December 19, 2018 (United States), December 19, 2018 (France)

"MARY POPPINS RETURNS" is a 2018 American Musical Fantasy Film based on the Book Series of the Same Name by P. L. TRAVERS (Sequel to 1964's Mary Poppins).

Directed by : Rob Marshall
Produced by : Rob Marshall, John DeLuca, Marc Platt
Screenplay by : David Magee
Story by : David Magee, Rob Marshall, John DeLuca
Based on : "Mary Poppins" by P. L. Travers
Starring : Emily Blunt, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ben Whishaw, Emily Mortimer, Julie Walters, Dick Van Dyke, Angela Lansbury, Colin Firth, Meryl Streep
Distributed by : Walt Disney Studios, Motion Pictures
Running Time : 130 minutes
Release Dates : November 29, 2018 (Dolby Theatre), December 19, 2018 (United States), December 19, 2018 (France)

THE STORY

Bathed in Nostalgia, “Mary Poppins Returns“ is being framed as a Homage, and there´s Clearly some Love here. Mary Poppins (Emily Blunt) appears from Parts unknown with a Talking Umbrella and Capacious Carpetbag. Even if you have never seen the 1964 Film, the Image of this Floating Woman who Magically arrives in the Most Delightful Way, still resonates in the Disney-Nurtured Cultural Imagination. She embodies the Kind of Secular Savior Disney excels in. Michael (Ben Whishaw) adores his Sons (Nathanael Saleh & Joel Dawson) and Daughter (Pixie Davies), but (in Classic Disney Matricidal Fashion) his Wife has recently died, and he´s in Mourning.

We open in the 1930s, where the Depression is putting a Financial Pinch on Michael and Jane Banks (Emily Mortimer) his Sister. Jane periodically drops in at the Family Homestead on Cherry Tree Lane to check on Michael, following the Death of his Beloved Wife. He has had to put his Painting Aside, taking a Job at the Bank that once employed his Father, to feed his Three Children. The Household is a Disaster, between Michael´s Forgetfulness and the Advancing Years of Family Housekeeper Ellen (Julie Walters), so Naturally it´s the Perfect Time for Super-Nanny Mary Poppins to, as Promised, return....

OUR REVIEW

Set during the Great Depression, also known in Britain as the Great Slump, of the 1930s, the Story returns Mary Poppins to the Same Multistoried House at 17 Cherry Tree Lane. Decades earlier, she had to persuade Mr. Banks to pay Attention to his Children ; now, she has to pull Michael out of his own Catastrophic Depression so he can tend to his Children and save their Home from the Bank... What Combination of Essential Ingredients, what Magic Wellspring of Authenticity, is required to ensure Audiences and Critics Warm to Latter-Day Episode in the Way they once basked in the Satisfying Glow of the Beloved Original ?

This Question seems to have become Essential to the Business of Big-Budget Film-Making in 2018. This Business has been going on for Decades and these Days, Original Cast Members are no Longer restricted to Supporting Roles or Blink-and-you´ll-miss it Appearances. There are some Fine Moments, as well as consistently Eye-Stroking Costumes. It´s Sweet News indeed that “Mary Poppins Returns,“ a Sequel 54 Years in coming, provides just that Spoonful of Happiness in the Form of Emily Blunt, Practically Perfect in Every Way as the Heir to Julie Andrews. And though the Stylish British Nanny looks Different than you may remember, she´s still Super-Talented at bringing Eye-Popping Wonder and Whimsy into the Lives of Everyone around her.

Ruby BIRD
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Yasmina BEDDOU
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