Rating:  

Studio Canal, Relativity Media, Working Title Films, Three Strange Angels and Universal Pictures.

Written by: Emma Thompson, based on characters created by Cristianna Brand

Returning to the fantasy world she helped craft and create for the big screen in 2006, Emma Thompson reprises her role as the hideously ugly on the outside, but mystical and magical Nanny McPhee for the 2010 family film, “Nanny McPhee Returns.” Thompson again adapts Christianna Brand’s British novel series with ample amounts of wit, wisdom, and throwback movie magic.

After helping the widowed father of seven whip his ne’er-do-well children into shape and find love by the end in the 2006 first film, Nanny McPhee drifted off as quickly as she came. In case you are not familiar or have forgotten from the first film, the rules Nanny McPhee sets are simply that when you need her but do not want her, she will stay. However, when you do not need her but want her to stay, she must go. Arriving on the doorstep, literally, of the Green family, Nanny McPhee comes to the aid of Isabel (Maggie Gyllenhaal).

Isabel is a mother of three young children, overmatched and overwhelmed. Managing the farm with her children and working part-time for a potentially senile shopkeeper (Maggie Smith), Isabel has agreed to take in two aristocratic cousins, Cyril and Celia, who immediately want their driver to return them back home. For reasons later realized, the cousins are forced to stay and blending everyone together for a summer or a vacation or even a mere day proves tasking for all involved. Tasking that is until Nanny McPhee arrives with a brisk and stormy wind at her back and the mantra quoted above whistling through the trees on Isabel’s walk home. Resistant at first, Isabel is shocked to find that the Nanny can make everyone follow her directions (her magic cane again playing a role) and Isabel soon is open to the prospects of having Nanny McPhee’s assistance.

A sequel of this nature often comes strapped with redundancies and unoriginal ideas. To Emma Thompson’s unyielding credit, she has crafted a whimsical and entertaining screenplay that stays in the same tone as the first “McPhee” film, but carves out its own identity. Thompson takes a slight step back here and allows a well rounded ensemble of children’s actors the chance to propel the movie forward. Maggie Gyllenhaal adopts a rather flawless British accent and moves through Isabel’s emotions effectively. Overwhelmed mothers in family films are often written all the same; desperate, overprotective, and frankly, at times unlikable and smothering. Gyllenhaal conveys much richer and truer emotion than you often get in a family film, which is not only a further reminder of her talent as an actress, but also a reminder that Emma Thompson should really write more movies.

With all of its endearing qualities and winning moments, the film buckles here and there. Rhys Ifans (Notting Hill) is a bit too much as the insufferable brother-in-law trying to convince Isabel that she should sell the farm for, of course, his own nefarious means. Additionally, some of the magical moments seem to be akin to something you might find in one of those old made-for-TV Disney films I watched as a kid every Sunday night on television. A sequence involving an unexploded bomb in the countryside feels out of place and forced.

But even with the least impressive moments, I smiled. I laughed. I liked what I was seeing. A fellow critic commented before the film started that, “Emma Thompson has never written a bad script…so my hopes are high.” I echo that sentiment. “Nanny McPhee Returns” is enjoyable from beginning to end and lays back on message, focusing instead on providing something that kids will enjoy and their parents will be pleased to share with them.

Should I See It?

YES

Incorrectly branded as only for girls, the film offers many laughs for boys and girls, men and women. The film has plenty of humor which virtually everyone can enjoy.

Even if synchronized swimming pigs and magic canes and improbable events are not your cup of tea, there is still plenty of genuine comedy and emotional connections the film will have for you.

Maggie Gyllenhaal is great. Emma Thompson writes well and through the entire film, it is nearly impossible to not enjoy what unfolds before you.

NO

If you did not like the first film, this is very similar to that first movie and in many ways, more of the same.

For some, the magical sequences and the goofiness of the film will come off as trite and too cute.

Maybe this will appear unoriginal with some obvious references to Mary Poppins.

There are some bleak overtones with war and domestic disputes that might be over the head of the littlest ones and in certain familial situations, a bit unsettling. In other words, this may be boring or uncomfortable for some of the kids watching.