IN A PLACE WE HOLD DEAR, WHERE WONDER ONCE LIVED… BUT SOON FROM ABOVE, A NEW STORY BEGINS.
20 years after the events of the first film, a now grown up Michael (Ben Whishaw) and his three children risk losing their home; then, Mary Poppins (Emily Blunt) returns. 54 years after Mary Poppins came this elaborate sequel that honors the legacy in a sensitive and wise way, once again offering spectacular Broadway-style production numbers combined with animated elements. Blunt is a fine Poppins and it’s simply wonderful seeing Dick Van Dyke and Angela Lansbury (both 93) in apt small roles; the former even gets to dance. Unfortunately, the song score is much weaker than the original.
2018-U.S. 130 min. Color. Widescreen. Directed by Rob Marshall. Music, Song: Marc Shaiman, Scott Wittman (”A Conversation”, “The Place Where Lost Things Go”). Costume Design: Sandy Powell. Cast: Emily Blunt (Mary Poppins), Lin-Manuel Miranda (Jack), Ben Whishaw (Michael Banks), Emily Mortimer (Jane Banks), Julie Walters, Colin Firth… Meryl Streep, Dick Van Dyke, Angela Lansbury, David Warner.
Trivia: Firth also voices the wolf in the animated sequence. Julie Andrews was reportedly considered for Lansbury’s part as the balloon lady.
