Mary Poppins Returns is a cynical and masterfully put together spectacle, promising complete immersion in period (fiction) London. It looks perfect; it is beat-for-beat stage managed, carefully and precisely, to re-create the magic of 1964’s Mary Poppins. As Disney brings its classic animated feature films to ‘life’, it is also mining the archives for wonders like this.

Emily Blunt is practically perfect in every way. She is wonderful throughout, bringing the unnerving smugness and self-satisfaction that Julie Andrews gave to the role, while adding her own flavour. She never attempts mimicry of the voice for instance, and her Poppins seems more human. Blunt holds this film together and is a real treat to watch.

It is charming elsewhere, it looks perfect for example. The songs are pleasant enough, and some are genuinely ear-wormy on first listen (such as ‘A Conversation,’ ‘The Place Where Lost Things Go’, ‘Trip a Little Light Fantastic’). It’s too soon to know how these songs will age, so let’s not lose our heads over whether they’re songs for the ages. It’s interesting, though, that throughout many of the key moments, echoes of the original songs play as refrains. In fact, it’s impossible to watch Mary Poppins Returns without continually thinking about the original – it is entirely layered over and through, and the sequel mirrors the set-pieces, plot and pacing of the first film (in just the same way that The Force Awakens cleverly relies on its predecessor). This is inevitable, it is the reason for this film, the hook that invites us in, but ultimately perhaps, its downfall.

To illustrate the difficulty of Mary Poppins Returns, let’s take the Meryl Streep cameo. It’s Meryl Streep, and she’s popping in to do her Sophie’s Choice accent and belt out a number. It’s bizarre, and (like having Daniel Craig play a Stormtrooper) it just reminds us that ‘HEY THIS IS THE SEQUEL TO MARY POPPINS’. I know its purpose is to reflect the ‘I Love to Laugh’ sequence in the original, but I just hated its self-conscious knowingness.

However, one stand-out joy for me (in addition to Blunt’s performance) was Rob Marshall’s decision to incorporate hand-drawn animation in the ‘bowl’ scenes. It shouldn’t be, of course, but it was a bit of a revelation, and reminds me that Disney are overlooking the places where the lost things go.

Mary Poppins Returns surrounds its audience in an aura of carefully orchestrated magic. It’s an exceedingly well made film, which attempts to capture the essence of the original. If it succeeds, it is entirely down to Emily Blunt.

3/5