This nanny knows best

Rob Marshall’s Mary Poppins Returns faces enormous challenges but exceeds expectations with a vibrant family film that pays homage to the enchanting original

BRINGING Mary Poppins back to the big screen is a task fraught with peril. The 1964 movie, starring Julie Andrews as PL Travers’ magical nanny, is almost unassailable in the pantheon of children’s films. With its spoonfuls of sugar, kite-flying and Dick Van Dyke’s Chim-Chimneying, it remains a Walt Disney high point, an enchanting blend of live-action and animation.

So Rob Marshall’s Mary Poppins Returns faces enormous challenges. Impressively, it exceeds expectations with a vibrant, singalong family film that pays homage to the original and (almost) goes toe-to-toe with it. Marshall is just about the ideal director, with big-budget movie musicals Chicago and Into the Woods under his belt. Here he raids the latter for his Mary Poppins: Emily Blunt.

The British actress is splendid in the role, with Mary returning to the Banks household in Cherry Tree Lane with the children she once looked after now all grown-up (she hasn’t aged a day, something she seems eternally pleased about). There’s a waspish relish with which she attacks the “come along, children” dialogue, and when one of the little ’uns asks how much she weighs, the look on her face is priceless.

Michael Banks (Ben Whishaw) is a teller at the bank where his father worked, now run by Colin Firth’s meanie. He’s also a widower, having lost his wife in the past year, and father to their three children. Michael is at breaking point. He has taken out a loan which he now needs to repay in full – to the very bank he works for – or face losing the family home.

The potential saviour is a certificate of ownership proving that Michael and Jane’s father has shares in the bank. But where is it? With the Banks having until midnight on Friday, this ticking clock (made very clear in the Big Ben-set finale) is what drives the film. But really it’s the return of Mary Poppins – arriving from the heavens attached to a kite string – that keeps you enchanted. While Michael and Jane are busy looking for certificates, Mary is managing the children in her