Full of the joys of spring
MARY POPPINS RETURNS BUMBLEBEE
T★★★★★ his magical sequel to Disney’s 1964 much-loved musical fantasy is a brightly coloured balloon of joy which will carry you away on a giddy adventure.
Mixing live action, CGI and hand-drawn animation, this is charming, heartwarming and bursting with sing-along fun.
It’s glorious to look at and wonderfully played, with Emily Blunt triumphantly taking on Julie Andrews’ role as the world’s favourite nanny.
Andrews won an Oscar for Poppins, and with Blunt’s recent nomination for the Screen Actors Guild best actress award, it looks as if she could follow suit. With a stern demeanour and sparkly-eyed sense of mischief, she pours her heart into her performance as she sings, dances and even flashes her ankles in an almost saucy music hall turn – A Cover Is Not The Book.
Mary returns to the family home of the now grown-up Banks children, which is under threat of repossession by Colin Firth’s avaricious bank manager.
Jane and Michael are played by Emily Mortimer and Ben Whishaw, with Julie Walters as their long-suffering housemaid.
The latter two are stalwarts of the brilliant Paddington films, and their casting alongside the daring rooftop escapades of the finale suggests Disney executives have paid attention to the Peruvian bear’s box office success.
Joel Dawson is a scene-stealing scamp as one of Michael’s kids, US Broadway star Linmanuel Miranda shines brightly as a cockney lamplighter and popular veterans Dick Van Dyke and Angela Lansbury are luminous in their appearances.
Whether Oscar-winning director Rob Marshall is insanely brave or wilfully foolhardy in attempting to follow the greatest family film ever made, he succeeds by being faithful to its spirit and respecting its legacy.
I left with a bounce in my step, a huge grin on my face and hoping it won’t be long before Mary Poppins returns again.
Cert U Running time 130mins
Cert PG Running time 114mins
The Hollywood machine has retooled the Transformers franchise for a sleeker, quicker and more enjoyable ride in this character-driven prequel set in 1987.
With an impressively epic sci-fi opening on the planet Cybertron, it soon changes into an Earth-bound goofy high school comedy version of ET the Extra-terrestrial, with some Herbie Goes Bananasstyle shenanigans bolted on.
Pitch Perfect singing star Hailee Steinfeld finds the right gear as teenage mechanic Charlie who befriends a shapeshifting Autobot she names Bumblebee, who acts like an eager-to-please puppy.
While she struggles with school and a part-time job, plus a complicated home life, they must stop a pair of killer alien Decepticons intent on world domination.
New director Travis Knight aims for a lighter tone but very little kids may be in danger of having their circuits blown by some of the heavy metal action.
However, the sparky chemistry of Charlie and Bumblebee means the series has got its buzz back.