Emma Thompson delightful

Rating: 7/10 (1 January 2014)

I had read so many lackluster reviews about this film that I went in not expecting much. So I'm glad that I was pleasantly surprised. I ended up enjoying this flick quite a bit.
I think what really made this film work was Emma Thompson. I laughed quite a bit during the film and 95% of the time it was because of her. And when she was watching Mary Poppins for the first time and getting emotional, it made me tear up as well. So I thought she was quite effective in the role. She was quite superb. However, I thought that perhaps she was a bit young for the role. Tom Hanks too. They both looked about 10 years younger than they should have. At least when you compare them to the real life people from that time. Speaking of Tom Hanks, he was good but not spectacular. He also kind of played him as cold, and who knows maybe Walt Disney was really that way, but it just kind of rubbed me the wrong way.
And I enjoyed the flashbacks and understand why it was important to the story, however there was too many of them. It would get a bit annoying just constantly jumping back and forth. I don't know if there would have been a way to make that more seamless. But the flashbacks kept me guessing. I knew going into the film that the "real Mary Poppins" saved them. Presumably the father (since Mary Poppins is there to save the father). I had my theories that the mother would die in an accident, and then later on that she would kill herself. I knew something horrible would happen, but I just didn't know what. I'm glad that the film doesn't make it too obvious. That you'll keep guessing.
So overall I enjoyed it, but it wasn't perfect. My favourite part was when P.L Travers danced to "Let's Go Fly a Kite".