If we were to suppose that director Rob Marshall was only after one thing, and that it was to take Imagination and color it with Fantasy, then he would win. If, however, you are a servant to the 1964 original, then you still are in for a charismatic treat. This film has all the bells and whistles of nostalgia, and then some. It is a perfect moment in fashion to transport the viewer into a hurried world of blurred imagery, albeit fantastically embroidered. Not much time is wasted in presenting the mischievous theatrics. Let us begin with the plot, briefly
The Banks children are fully grown; however, the tragedy of adult life has arrived in a dark form; grieving widower Michael Banks is mourning the recent passing of his wife. He now has three children to care for. His sister Jane is there to assist him with this difficult task as well as an eccentric housekeeper named Ellen (played by Julie Walters). Michael has taken a loan from the bank he works at and gets into financial difficulty because he is unable to repay the loan back in time (by Friday at midnight); as a result, the astute boulevardier/chairperson who happens to be his boss, makes things a bit worse (played by Colin Firth). He tells them that the money must be paid in full by Friday at midnight or he will lose his house; distraught, Michael returns home and instantly realizes that his family has shareholdings with the bank that can pay off the loan if he can locate them. Suspiciously, any proof of these holdings is absent at the bank itself. While searching for these important papers, he discovers his kite from childhood and disposes of it immediately; surprisingly, while his children are out playing in the park, one of them finds the kite and begins to fly it. At that instant, Mary Poppins (gorgeously played by Emily Blunt) descends from the sky holding the kite and greets the children. Along the way, they have many fantasy adventures, from underwater castle rides to odysseys inside a painting! The rest are sealed up. You really must watch this! While the plot is deliciously stirred by color and animation, Jack the Lamplighter (charmingly played by Lin-Manuel Miranda) makes his entry alongside Mary Poppins to make certain the children are center-stage for the contests that await them.
Many of the newspapers I read did not display a favorable review of this film; there were, according to the ‘fine, ridiculously detailed knit-picking”, solemn reasons. The stern eccentricities of Emily Blunt’s acting were compared to the over-rotting nostalgia of Julie Andrews; that is outrageous competition and Mrs. Blunt did not sign such an extravagant contract. Cease contrasting such visuals and watch the fragrance radiate from fantasy itself. The film needs no assistance or, more poignantly, no advice from a cranky movie critic who is tied to a desk by a stale spirit and is paid dull earnings. If you desire to have your imagination colorized in the most unimaginable way, this film is a real confectionary luxury. There are also episodic musical spells that enter the canvas of togetherness and spontaneity cleverly forged in chosen locations of consciousness throughout the viewing. You are invited to dapper in such tunes as “Underneath The Lovely London Sky,” where Jack the Lamplighter closes the eyes of the town each night; and Mary’s number “The Place Where Lost Things Go” where she gently attempts to console the children from grieving the passing of their mother; then ponder what I consider the masterful number “A Book Is Not Its Cover”; the staging for this rehearsal, alone, is worth seeing the picture entirely! I am not confident, as other movie critics have outrageously suggested, that these numbers should weld places of residence in our imagery; on the contrary, the songs are platforms of merrymaking for the precious moment they entertain in that instant. They are not to be mentioned in future passing. I, myself, am not in that complex habit of rehearsing tunes from musicals of old or new. Besides, this movie has much more to offer than preserving the rhythm and dance, albeit it is so vital to the punchline; after that, though, your mind must be at muse for you to inhale all of the content that is provided, and it is a lot! The entire film is a moving painting of the most harmonious color and ornate costumes of imagination. From eccentric umbrellas and kites, to dancing shoes and nuanced fashion that resembles clandestine stages of dreamy elegance. Emily Blunt herself is a stage of carefully tamed bag-of-tricks, and she manages all her mindful opulence in a rarest and roseate pedagogy that is unthinkable.
As this odyssey ripens, so does your fantasy. You can welcome yourself into the episodes of the mystical underwater scenes and splash right back into bizarre paintings on the sides of quirky bowls that are enameled with enchanting mischief that any writer or painter would delightfully submerge in. And don’t forget to float in the sky with Mary, for she takes it upon herself to see to it that balloons can, indeed, be much more useful than just for floating; yes, they can be used to even ploy dreams!
Even at the worst, there is just too much extravaganza and enchantment for one to sit in boredom. Fantasy and Imagination are a darling couple; the ingredients of love, costume design, cheerfulness, eloquence, and tasty classic English dialogue can regale the worst of grumpy parents and cranky children. It allures you into a magnificent realm of magic and shifting plates of reality. That is its job to make one forget worry and embrace the eternal fascination of what is actually possible, if you can just imagine it.
© 2024, Mark Grago. All rights reserved.