Mary Poppins Returns review

This isn’t a movie that was on my anticipation list, but it did catch my attention a bit lately with the trailer back in September and with all the awards buzz and talk it’s been getting. I haven’t watched the first Mary Poppins in years, but I was familiar with what occurred and knew about the character and world, so with all this, I was curious enough to see it and see what surprises it would give. I really enjoyed it. Was this a sequel that needed to occur? No. Was this fun to watch? Yes.

The original is definitely used as a blueprint to make this movie, and it’s very obvious in the structure of the story, as it follows very similar beats, though it mixes things a bit to give it a bit of a different flavor but very similar structure if that makes sense. So, if you are a fan of the original and want something similar with what you got before but with hints of something different, you will enjoy this movie. If you like musicals, especially upbeat, you will enjoy this. If you are expecting this to really shake the world of Mary Poppins and do something completely unexpected, then you are watching the wrong movie, though I don’t think many would go into this movie expecting that.

One aspect I really enjoyed was the design of the world, there were elements that reminded me of the Paddington movies (if you haven’t seen the 2^nd one, I strongly recommend checking it out). The design made the visit to this world very pleasant and it was very fun to watch. I also really enjoyed the animated sequence, as the animation reminded me of the original movie and it’s style of animation, so they stayed faithful to the time period and the animated world that was already established.

How is Emily Blunt in the title role character? I thought she was great. Keep in mind, don’t go in expecting a recap of what Julie Andrew established, instead Emily Blunt took the character and made it her own. I haven’t seen the original in years but I have seen enough recently to know there is definitely a difference in her take, but she does a great job and was fun to see her interact with the world around her. I also enjoyed all the other characters that popped up throughout the movie. I am surprised to see Angela Langsbury with a great voice even at her age, speaking of surprise, it was great to see Dick Van Dyke do some fun dance moves in the movie during his cameo, a big part of me wished he was kept a secret instead of advertising it, I think the cameo would have been more fun that way and would have caught everyone off guard instead of waiting for him to appear.

The best way to describe this movie is familiar but pleasant. I thought this was a good movie and I enjoyed my return to this world despite the fact it was so many years since my last visit there.