
Mary Poppins Returns (PG)
The filmmakers expel exhausting energy in their attempts to heat up such burnt-out chestnuts. The good news, though, is that they often set the story aside and invite us to hang out with the kids, a chip-chip lamplighter played by Lin-Manuel Miranda and, above all else, Emily Blunt's Mary Poppins. She's a crisply officious wonderment of a nanny who brooks no sass or silliness — and, when the adults aren't looking, magics up the place. Blunt's Poppins is no imitation of Julie Andrews. She has a chillier mien, and at the edges of some scenes, Blunt suggests a secret inner life.
The songs don't compare with "Do-Re-Mi" or "Chim Chim Cher-ee," but the leads invest them with consummate cheer, and Marshall keeps the focus on his stars. Other highlights include a whoopingly weird gravity-bender of a number performed by Meryl Streep, and a giddy third-act showstopper featuring dozens of lamplighter boys Newsie dancing and performing bicycle tricks. Those spoonfuls of sugar help the plotty, predictable lows go down.