I… am… not the biggest fan of musicals. Not that I hate music, or dancing or basic frolicking while explaining feelings. I’m totally down for those thing, when they’re done right. When the feeling behind the song is genuine and the person who is being paid way more money than I’ll ever see, does their job right.
Long winded, I know… But I don’t have the luxury of having a lyricist write my feelings for the world to hear.
That being said… I do like good musicals, and I did enjoy the new Mary Poppins.
Led by Emily Blunt, the Magic Nanny returns with illogical merriment of wonder and a head spinning sense of fun
We follow three new Banks children as they go from being grown ups to being kids, as they should be, all while we see their father, Michael Banks, find d a way to be a child again as well.
We also get to see as Poppins helps Jane Banks find love, and the introduction of a leerie (a lamplighter) who helps spread Mary Poppins joy over London.
There’s also a subtle subplot featuring the rise of the working class of London rising up against the tyrannical dictatorship of the industrialization and predatory nature of the upper class of the times. But… that’s, that’s not as fun.
The music was absolutely perfect and the actors that sang them gave a wonderful and commanding performance.
Ben Winshaw’s song speaking as a widowed husband to his late wife was beautiful, and if you didn’t have a, sniff, tear in your eye, sniff, then your a monster!
The nostalgia of the film is two fold. In one way, we get to go back to a family and characters that we love. Mary, Micheal, Jane and the ensemble cast that we remember fondly give us Goosebumps, as we get to see them all and the story continued.
In the other way, we are taken back to what it must have been like in 1964, for the spectators of Mary Poppins on opening night. The grandeur and tradition of storytelling, the feeling that you are making the best of the night with your family. From the long opening credits and a medley of the songs were about to sing along to, to the huge sets that the dancers and cast get to explore and have fun on.
The same feeling that one might get from walking down a childhood street, or even Disneyland’s main street for the matter, the sense of longing for a different time, and one that seems bright with color and never ending in the echoes of joy, that’s what you get from this flick.
I like this movie a lot, something I’m realizing as I write this, is that I can’t wait for my nieces to be old enough to enjoy this movie so that I can see the joy in their eyes. Like when when the Banks children jump into a cracked porcelain bowl and the cartoon style of the sixties takes over the screen.
Although is been a few days since I’ve seen it, I’m still tapping my toes to the music, and singing along with good ol’ Jack. I can safely say… I’m enjoying the lovely London sky.
Gee I just can’t get that song out of my head.