By Mackenzie Bernas

Mary Poppins Returns brings back memories from way back when which I expect sparked the magic of childhood with the audience. It was a delightful surprise to enjoy myself sitting in the theater with only my grandmother hindering the experience by sleeping her way through the film which proves that this film is one geared towards a very young audience with long-time fans included.

In the first film, I fell in love with the strict yet imperfect parents being overbearing to their innocent children who were only to be saved in a jaw-dropping manner by a magical nanny. The second movie brings back the Banks’ children 25 years later as grown adults with Michael Banks as the father of three new children who need the help of a certain nanny.

The grief-stricken family must cope with losing its loving mother. With this loss weighing on the minds of the Banks family, they must also deal with the catastrophe of paying back a large loan, with their only saving grace being the bank shares left for them by the father of Michael Banks. Just when the Banks family is cornered by grief and financial problems while chasing a distant solution, Mary Poppins herself decides it’s time to lend a magical hand.

It was fun to see Lin Manuel Miranda’s rapping prowess, although fleeting, in the song The Cover is Not the Book. Emily Blunt’s Mary Poppins is also wonderful sight because I was able to once again see the blunt and vain nanny with her magical cane and all. I felt Blunt’s confidence as she is immersed in her role, and is perfect for Mary Poppins. I just loved watching Mary Poppins in action with her amusing personality and the adventures of the new Banks children.

Even with my pleasant slight shock when watching this sequel, it did have a few aspects that made me have to fight the urge to join my grandmother in sleeping through some scenes. Jack’s (Lin Manuel Miranda) accent comes to mind first when I think about what went wrong, but it may have been personally odd for me to hear because I’ve listened to some songs sung by him from the Hamilton musical which was created by Miranda himself. There was also Michael Banks who I felt was too perfect a father as opposed to the strict one I had previously come to know from the original movie, which made me miss the original’s characters more.

Overall, the film was enjoyable in some scenes and other scenes pushed my rating meter to a negative one. The sequel was able to capture my attention and I can call it an enjoyable experience even in the large shadow that the first Mary Poppins creates.