Mary Poppins Returns (2018)

(Netflix Streaming, December 2019) Much has already been written about Disney’s all-out effort to sell generations’ worth of its own pop-culture reference back to modern audiences, and at times it feels as if Mary Poppins Returns is an exemplar of that effort. Ripping off an earlier classic as a matter of course, this sequel seems happy to simply go through the same kind of story, the same kind of songs, the same kind of structure, the same kind of jokes. It’s competently made, amiable enough, and with some spectacular special effects to sweeten the deal, but it does struggle to justify its own existence as anything more than a money grab. Artistically, none of the songs or musical numbers seemed to grab me on first viewing—although I suspect that “The Cover Is Not the Book” and “Trip a Little Light Fantastic” may do better on re-watch. The cast is quite good, with Emily Blunt turning in as a perfectly decent Mary Poppins—I particularly liked her somewhat harsher tone this time around. Lin-Manuel Miranda is also a highlight, although only occasionally used to the fullest extent of his skills. Still, for all the prodigious technical skills used to make Mary Poppins Return, the impact is considerably lessened. I don’t think that there’s a single pixel of the result that hasn’t been meticulously art-directed half a dozen times, and yet the result isn’t that much better than the original. (It is, however, mercifully shorter.)  Thematically, the film doesn’t quite know where it’s going for besides making money—but if we’re going to talk about the film’s twisted relationship with capitalism, we’re going to be here all night. At least now the kids know about compound interest. Which, I’m sure, the Disney stockholders will approve. But in between Mary Poppins Returns’s paean to banking and Christopher Robin’s bemoaning executives not having enough time to spend with their families, I have a feeling we’re getting far too raw a glimpse into the Disney boardroom’s mindset through their movies.