After 54 years of the 1964 original's debut, this sequel makes a practically perfect and glorious return that honors the spirit of the original with a topnotch lead performance from Emily Blunt as the titular character, in which the casting is just practically perfect in every way and makes her as a worthy successor to Julie Andrews in its handling of the iconic character. While Blunt's interpretation of Mary Poppins was merely different of what Julie Andrews portrayed in the original, it is just very marvelous for her to make the character her own by capturing the spirit and essence of the character within the P. L. Travers's novels.
The entire supporting cast have also delivered nothing short but remarkable, superb, and topnotch performances from Emily Mortimer, Julie Walters, Colin Firth, and Meryl Streep as well two legendary thespians; mostly, Dick van Dyke and Angela Lansbury. But what's really the major standouts within the movie apart from Emily Blunt would be Lin-Manuel Miranda in his spectacular and scene-stealing performance while bringing with his Hamilton signature style into the film, and Miranda's Cockney accent had to be a major improvement to the infamous Cockney accent of van Dyke in the original. Another noteworthy scene-stealing performances are mostly the child actors and actress that played the Banks children with adorable charm as well sensibilities and mostly, Ben Whishaw, who gives a emotional raw and nuanced performance, which he had to be major highlight of this film.
There are also technical aspects of this film that also elevate the greatness of the film's quality mostly from Sandy Powell's topnotch yet faithful recreation of the original costume designs, Marc Shaiman's terrific yet inherent music score, the grandiose recreation of its production design, but what's really the most incredible that this film delivered had to be the animated sequence that blends live-action and hand-drawn animation that pays a remarkable homage to the original's animated sequence and is no doubt one of the most visually imaginative and downright impressive being displayed in years since Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
However, the film itself had its share of flaws, most notably with the story which is a disappointment; considering the fact that David Magee, the screenwriter behind the Oscar-nominated screenplays of Finding Neverland and Life of Pi, was unable to craft a compelling yet nuanced screenplay that could have been elevated further but it plays very safe, which isn't helping much. Rob Marshall's direction had also tend to be mediocre and although, this film had to be Marshall's best work since Chicago, much of the imprint of his direction tend to be safe and some of his shot selections are uninspired, which drags the quality down. Another issue had to be the songs and while the songs are very catchy and are finely crafted, it lacks the memorability that these songs possesses in its comparison of the majestic 1964 original songs.
Yet nevertheless, this film makes a nostalgic and sensational cinematic experience for both children and adults as well to the fans of the original and especially to the musical admirers. While this film isn't gonna surpass the original, it is still a musical masterpiece that had a place on remarkable classic musicals such as A Star is Born (2018), La La Land, Moulin Rouge!, and etc. This film is definitely worth watching in every perfect way.
The entire supporting cast have also delivered nothing short but remarkable, superb, and topnotch performances from Emily Mortimer, Julie Walters, Colin Firth, and Meryl Streep as well two legendary thespians; mostly, Dick van Dyke and Angela Lansbury. But what's really the major standouts within the movie apart from Emily Blunt would be Lin-Manuel Miranda in his spectacular and scene-stealing performance while bringing with his Hamilton signature style into the film, and Miranda's Cockney accent had to be a major improvement to the infamous Cockney accent of van Dyke in the original. Another noteworthy scene-stealing performances are mostly the child actors and actress that played the Banks children with adorable charm as well sensibilities and mostly, Ben Whishaw, who gives a emotional raw and nuanced performance, which he had to be major highlight of this film.
There are also technical aspects of this film that also elevate the greatness of the film's quality mostly from Sandy Powell's topnotch yet faithful recreation of the original costume designs, Marc Shaiman's terrific yet inherent music score, the grandiose recreation of its production design, but what's really the most incredible that this film delivered had to be the animated sequence that blends live-action and hand-drawn animation that pays a remarkable homage to the original's animated sequence and is no doubt one of the most visually imaginative and downright impressive being displayed in years since Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
However, the film itself had its share of flaws, most notably with the story which is a disappointment; considering the fact that David Magee, the screenwriter behind the Oscar-nominated screenplays of Finding Neverland and Life of Pi, was unable to craft a compelling yet nuanced screenplay that could have been elevated further but it plays very safe, which isn't helping much. Rob Marshall's direction had also tend to be mediocre and although, this film had to be Marshall's best work since Chicago, much of the imprint of his direction tend to be safe and some of his shot selections are uninspired, which drags the quality down. Another issue had to be the songs and while the songs are very catchy and are finely crafted, it lacks the memorability that these songs possesses in its comparison of the majestic 1964 original songs.
Yet nevertheless, this film makes a nostalgic and sensational cinematic experience for both children and adults as well to the fans of the original and especially to the musical admirers. While this film isn't gonna surpass the original, it is still a musical masterpiece that had a place on remarkable classic musicals such as A Star is Born (2018), La La Land, Moulin Rouge!, and etc. This film is definitely worth watching in every perfect way.