Film Preview: Mary Poppins Returns (2018)

Page Revisions:

(March 11, 2018) Original
(September 23, 2018) New Trailer (#2) / New Poster (#2)
(December 16, 2018) New Posters (#3-#16) / New Release Date (changed from 12/25/18)

Release Date:

December 19, 2018

Synopsis:

From IMDb: “In Depression-era London, a now-grown Jane and Michael Banks, along with Michael’s three children, are visited by the enigmatic Mary Poppins following a personal loss. Through her unique magical skills, and with the aid of her friend Jack, she helps the family rediscover the joy and wonder missing in their lives.”

Poster Rating: D+ / B / C+ / C+ / C+ (5) / C- (5) / C+ / B

SEE ALL POSTERS BELOW
Review: (#1) Disney’s poster department shouldn’t be earning a paycheck with its poster designs because the white backgrounds and prominent figures might accentuate them, but they are far from appealing.

(#2) If the entire poster had been drawn, much like what might have accompanied the Julie Andrews original, it might have been more interesting. However, Emily Blunt looks entirely out of style with the rest of the poster, as does Lin-Manuel Miranda to a lesser extent.

(#3) You know it’s London because of the blurry Big Ben in the background. The cherry blossom leaves are an odd choice and the blue-and-red motif for Mary Poppins herself looks a bit garish. (#4) A slightly more jaunty look than the prior design with almost all of the same elements alongside a new wardrobe, but the same British color scheme. (#5-#9) These character posters are relatively distinct, but also look a bit poorly designed, with all of the elements cobbled together poorly. (#10-#14) Red, blue, white, and mauve are the design elements of these character posters, but it makes them all feel a bit washed out and tacky. (#15) The poorly blended sectional transitions don’t add much to this design while the lower half has a little more action to it, the whole thing still feels a bit bland. (#16) Blue, purle, and red watercolor design looks very interesting with tons of detail and only a small amount of wasted space.

Trailer Rating: B / B+

SEE ALL TRAILERS BELOW
Review: (#1) The trailer teases each characters with some success, establishing this as a natural follow-up to the original film while feeling rather different, especially in its more naturalistic use of colors. It will be interesting to see if they do better at revealing the film’s musical side before its actual release or if it hedges its bets the way The Greatest Showman did. That is even if it has musical elements and considering everything involved, it must have them.

(#2) The first trailer enticed fans of the original film with its promise of the return of Mary Poppins. This trailer, however, gives the audience a far better idea of how connected the film is to its predecessor as well as why newer audiences should give it a go.

Oscar Prospects:

The original Mary Poppins was one of the most nominated films in Oscar history. Can the far-removed sequel replicate that success? it depends on how good the film actually is; however, I suspect it will fall far short of the original film’s success.