| 'Mary Poppins Returns': Sequels rarely equal the original | |
| Last Edit: WaymanWong 10:26 am EST 12/20/18 | |
| Posted by: WaymanWong 10:18 am EST 12/20/18 | |
| In reply to: The movie is as much a remake as it is a sequel - PlayWiz 12:17 pm EST 12/19/18 | |
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| Robert Stevenson's 1964 ''Mary Poppins'' was ''practically perfect in every way.'' Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke provided such a ''Jolly Holiday,'' and every Richard and Robert Sherman song was a ''Spoonful'' and tuneful delight. So how do you follow that? It's not for lack of trying in ''Mary Poppins Returns.'' Disney assembled many terrific talents, clearly also in love with the original. Rob Marshall did dazzling work on the Oscar-winning ''Chicago,'' and Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman wrote two of my favorite Broadway scores of the 2000s: ''Hairspray'' and ''Catch Me If You Can.'' But PlayWiz notes: So much of it seems paint-by-numbers. Literally. And disappointingly so. Nearly every song in the new movie is a variation or callback to the 1964 classic. ''Trip a Little Light Fantastic'' is ''Step in Time'' revisited (except with more hyper choreography and now BMX Motorcross bikes). ''Turning Turtle'' is a version of ''I Love to Laugh,'' even with gravity-defying effects. (And it's a total time-waster, with Meryl Streep doing an over-the-top, Eastern European accent.) For me, only ''Nowhere to Go But Up'' truly captures the Sherman brothers' magic. Even though it's a reinvention of ''Let's Go Fly a Kite,'' it's so buoyant and bright, it leaves you sailing out of the theater, floating like the sky-high Mary Poppins. |
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| Link | L.A. Times: 'Mary Poppins Returns,' and she really shouldn't have |
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