Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang (2010)

Possible spoilerMary Poppins she's not. Instead it's Emma Thompson with unbelievably bad teeth, serious warts, and a socially incorrect pet crow, who appears when she's needed the most (and wanted the least) in "Nanny McPhee Returns".Maggie Gyllenhaal is Isabel Green, a harried British farmwife with a husband off fighting World War II, three unruly children and their two spoiled brat London cousins, and a farm she's about to lose, pigs and all. Then Nanny arrives, ugly, mysterious and chock full of magical powers, and she doesn't take "We don't want you!" for an answer.The film is a pretty good mixture of sweet and sour, with plenty of magical moments and barnyard humor for the kids along with an underlying theme of wartime fear of loss. The mini-war between city and country kids is out of hand when Nanny shows up, and she meets a lot of resistance from all sides, but remains snaggle-toothed and unfazed.Amazing things keep on happening: pigs not only fly, they perform a water ballet, and the children slowly learn some important lessons about sharing and caring and hope and faith.An excellent supporting cast includes Rhys Ifans as Isobel's gambling brother-in-law, Ralph Fiennes as the cousins' big shot War Office father and Ewan McGregor as Isobel's soldiering husband.

After watching the delightful fist Nanny McPhee I went out and bought Nanny McPhee Returns. What big disappointment. We could not even watch the whole thing. I feel greatly cheated by the director's choice of burping, gas passing clips he put in. He may well of pleased the little truants out there but my kids will never see it. Extremely disappointed, just a sign of the times I guess. This movie contributes to destruction of society, but it contributes nothing of merit. Poor choice for family viewing.Shame on you whatever your name is, fortunately I forgot it.Not enough words? What more can I add to express my disgust with this mess? Not worth the time of this reviewer to go on.

Emma Thompson takes us back to the colourful world of Nanny McPhee. This time Nanny McPhee has a mission with a new family. I loved the first movie. Not only was it a refreshing tribute to classics like Mary Poppins, but it had heart and magic and its world looked surreal, a splendid movie for the entire family.Here too the world is just as colourful and surreal and looks like a fun place. Yes, even Isabel's muddy farm looks like an enjoyable place to live at. The creativity in writing and art direction amuses me, for example, watching those piglets lying in the scratch machine was cute and hilarious. The new animal characters, especially the baby elephant, are a delight. The lighting and slightly yellowish tint gives 'Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang' a very sunny look. The humour works very well as it had me laughing out loud on various occasions.However, unlike in the first movie, the story here felt rushed and there were some inconsistencies. The bomb sequence, as entertaining as it was, wasn't necessary and it only distracted from the main story. The child actors here are competent but their counterparts in the first film performed better. While the special effects here are very good they didn't appear as authentic.Emma Thompson reprises the title role and she does a fine job. She mostly takes the backseat while letting the other actors perform. Maggie Gyllenhaal shows a knack for comedy and her English accent sounds authentic. Maggie Smith is a riot. Rhys Ifans does well as the greedy uncle.'Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang' may not measure up to 'Nanny McPhee' but it's still a lot of fun and a good watch for the family. I was smiling after it finished (watch it through the closing credits as there's a very cute surprise).

After seeing all the positive reviews of this movie, I was hesitant to write a review, but as another reviewer so accurately pointed out, this movie lacked the magic of the first.I can't tell you how disappointed I was. The magic was simply and completely gone in this one.Admittedly, after seeing the terrible commercials for this film, I only rented it at Red Box (for $1 - glad I didn't spend any more!) due to two people being in it...Rhys Ifans and Maggie Smith...Smith being one of my favorite actresses.I won't go into detail about the plot (you're capable of reading and can read that for yourself) but will instead concentrate on what this movie lacked...and there was a lot of that.Gone was the magic of the first movie and yes, I realize that this is a sequel, not a re-make.None of the characters are worth caring about except Ifans and Smith. Ifans is such a royal pain that you simply want to reach into the TV and slap him for being such a nuisance and Smith is charming and much too adorable. Her character is a real delight.The kids, on the other hand, are terrifically boring and lackluster, the character of the mother was simply too over-the-top to even want to care about and what was with the squeaky voiced (and oh-so irritating) hit woman and her counterpart that sounded as if her male-esque voice was faked (because it was)? Might I ask what exactly they were supposed to bring to the movie except to make it ridiculous? Every time the frog voiced woman opened her mouth, I cringed.While I did appreciate the lovely scenery and the quaint farm (which redeemed this movie...somewhat) the only thing that saved it from a 2 rating, was the twist at the end that literally almost knocked me out of my chair.I must also comment on the absolute silliness that Nanny McPhee was now in the military as an Army Nanny (you're joking, right?) and in this one, Nanny herself seemed almost wooden and her lines, forced, as if she didn't want to be there and was simply going through the motions to get them done.In the first one, she was quaint, polished, magical and believable. In this one, she was laughable...and not in a fun or positive way.I was utterly sick after I finished watching this film, because the first Nanny McPhee is one of my favorite movies and even at my age, I watch it all the time. I was not looking forward to the terrible review I was going to have to give it and hate writing this.Vast, vast, disappointment...