Nanny McPhee Returns

Charming, funny, whimsical, and a little bit dark, Nanny McPhee Returns is all of these things, and a fitting sequel to the 2006 original. While I enjoyed the earlier Nanny McPhee film, I had dubious expectations walking into this one, as I wondered if a sequel was necessary. Having seen it, I still have my doubts if a "return" trip was in order, but I'm glad it's out there.

Emma Thompson (who also wrote the screenplay and produced the film) returns as the titular character, a supernatural British nanny who is less "spoonful of sugar", and more "mouthful of vinegar" both in her appearance and her methods. Dressed in Gothic black, accompanied by a black bird (who belches and provides toilet humor for the kids in the audience), and her face covered in warts with one lone buck tooth jutting down from her upper lip, Nanny McPhee is intimidating. Her eyes are piercing, and her gaze is all-knowing. She also carries a large walking stick, which allows her to summon spells that can help whatever family she is currently assigned to. That's one thing I noticed about the character while watching this film. Despite getting her name in the title, Nanny McPhee is very much a background character, and I mean that in the best way. Her method is to teach troublesome children how to solve problems and learn to get along on their own. She offers up magic for assistance, but does not stand in the foreground. She watches events unfold, knows when to step in, and when to step back.

As in the first film, McPhee arrives mysteriously on the doorstep of a family desperately in need of her assistance at just the right time. One thing that has changed is the tone. Whereas the first film seemed to take place in a storybook England setting, this time it's set in a very real period - England during World War II. The family in question is headed by a poor farmer's wife named Isabel Green (Maggie Gyllenhaal, pulling off a very strong British accent here), who is stressed out by having to raise her three kids on her own, while her husband (Ewan McGregor in a cameo) has gone off to fight in the war. She's struggling to keep the farm and her family afloat, but it's difficult to keep everything running smoothly at home, and keep up at her part-time job working for a ditzy old candy store owner, who often needs more looking after than her kids (Maggie Smith). If that's not enough, there are two more kids coming to live with her. Spoiled and wealthy cousins from London, Cyril (Eros Vlahos) and Celia (Rosie Taylor-Ritson), have been sent to her farm for safety during the war, and immediately begin causing trouble around the house.

And yet, there's still more problems for poor Isabel - Her shifty brother-in-law Phil (a wonderfully slimy Rhys Ifans) is pushing her to sell the farm, since he owns half of it, and he wants to sell it to pay off his gambling debts. With all of this crashing down on Isabel, Nanny McPhee shows up, and begins to put things in order in her own unique way. She teaches the children how to get along with each other, how to solve their own problems, and how to show bravery in the face of adversity. I like the way that the movie portrays McPhee's powers, and how she does not use them to instantly solve any problem that comes the family's way. When the kids must track down some piglets that have run away from the farm, she actually uses her magic to make the pigs harder to catch, giving them the ability to climb trees, swim through water in synchronized choreographed numbers, and even fly. She does this to force the kids to not only work together to catch the pigs, but also to force them to think creatively on how to solve their problem.

This is a charming movie all around. Kids are sure to love the various antics of the different animals that Nanny McPhee is able to summon on command (either to help the kids out, or play pranks on them), and adults will enjoy the sometimes clever dialogue and strong performances from the cast. There is some unfortunate reliance on toilet humor in some of the early scenes, but it goes away quickly enough, and is replaced with some clever visual gags, such as the "pig scratching" machine that the kids invent inside the barn in order to keep the animals happy. The movie's also not afraid to look at some of the hardships of war, with plot developments that occur late in the film. While it all works out in the end, I appreciated that the movie respected its audience enough to realize and emphasize that war can be a scary and lonely time for children.

Nanny McPhee Returns may be an unnecessary sequel, but it's the best kind - One that understands the charms of the original and carries on the tradition, without making it seem like a virtual retread. Emma Thompson and director Susanna White treat the material and characters with respect. They're clever, witty, and well-spoken. That's rare enough in any children's film. Yeah, there's some crude humor provided by that belching black bird, but those talented swimming pigs more than make up for it.

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