Hello friends! I took a short break from posting to fully enjoy Christmas break with my family, and I am happy to be back. Preston and I are also back on our movie grind- we have plans to see five movies before school starts back- hopefully we can do it! We saw over 30 movies in theaters in 2018, which is a new record for us. Today’s post is a movie review on “Mary Poppins Returns” starring Emily Blunt and Lin-Manuel Miranda.
To start this review off, I think we should first clarify that neither of us have seen the original “Mary Poppins,” (shocking, I know). This might make our review a little different than someone who is a tried and true MP (Mary Poppins) fan. I also wanted to add that we were the only people in the theater when we went to see the film, which was extra fun because we could talk about it while we were watching it for the first time!
Loren’s Review: The songs were very happy and upbeat. None of them seem like they are going to become super catchy and stick around like the originals have. I loved the plot and thought it was a great way to do a sequel of such a classic movie. My favorite scene was the big chimney sweeper number! It did feel a bit dragged out in some parts, as many musicals do, but it did a good job of adding in music or dialogue at a good time. I love anything Emily Blunt is a part of, and she knocked it out of the park in this role. All I know about Lin-Manuel Miranda is Hamilton, but I thought he also did a really good job as the street lamp lighter! Overall, it was very enjoyable for me. I think the common male wouldn’t enjoy this movie, but most of us girls and anyone who enjoys musicals should like this film!
Preston’s Review: Overall, I very much enjoyed the film. It had great songs that were very catchy with extravagant choreography to match. The sets were also marvelous in every aspect. The bathtub number was a phenomenal work of art, it had vibrant colors that blended perfectly with the costume design with music that complemented the atmosphere perfectly. Many scenes felt this way. My only gripe is that the movie made the time frame of the week it was set in a crucial part of the story but did not give the audience enough clues to make this timing clear. This made the story a bit hard to follow. I think the pacing is what might have caused this issue as there is a mid movie lull. To summarize, I think it was a solid film that had great visuals and amazing musical numbers to boot. However, I think the awkward pacing and ambiguity in crucial parts of the story keep it from getting an amazing score.
