Visitors Review

tb48421 (2012-05-25 01:56)

Wonderful Ending!

My son and I just watched the first one last night because we wanted to see the new one today. The first one was so good that he said he definitely wanted to see the 2nd one after seeing it. Rhys Ifans was amusing as the "villian", and there are many lessons to learn. I won't spoil it for anyone, but if you loved the first one, the ending to this one will make you cry. I did!

jmnpjn-31-573256 (2012-05-24 06:47)

Disgusting

After watching the delightful fist Nanny McPhee I went out and boughtNanny McPhee Returns. What big disappointment. We could not even watchthe whole thing. I feel greatly cheated by the director's choice ofburping, gas passing clips he put in. He may well of pleased the littletruants out there but my kids will never see it. Extremelydisappointed, just a sign of the times I guess. This movie contributesto destruction of society, but it contributes nothing of merit. Poorchoice 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 thismess? Not worth the time of this reviewer to go on.

gradyharp (2012-05-23 20:54)

She comes when you need her the most and want her the least, and she leaves when you want her the most and need her the least.

Emma Thompson is an artist of s many gifts that she defiescategorization. In addition to being one of our best actresses of theday, she is also a very fine writer and not at all afraid of jumpinginto 'family movies' that bundle fun as well as sage advice. Her shehas written and stars in NANNY MCPHEE RETURNS and lets hope this isn'ther last visit. Nanny McPhee appears as a grotesquely ugly woman who arrives inhouseholds besotted with potential disasters and in the course of hermanipulations of the microcosm that initiated the problems she has asense of magic in reversing the behavior patterns of children andadults to bring about a happy ending to a crisis waiting to happen.This trip finds her visiting the farm of Isabel Green (MaggieGyllenhaal) whose husband (Ewan McGregor) is off at war, leaving thecare of the three children and the farm and life in general in herhands. Add to that the constant interference of Isabel's pesteringbrother-in-law (Rhys Ifans) and a battery of spoiled cousins and themadness of a misplaced bomb form the sky and Nanny has her hands fullteaching the children not only how to cope but also how to behave in amanner that aids Isabel's survival. Maggie Smith joins thisirrepressible cast and in the end it is difficult to judge whatentertains most - the madness or the glee. Deep it is not, but it isone of those films you can slip into the telly and enjoy as much as anadult as the youngsters adore it. Fantasy, a bit of family drama, and alot of fine lessons make this a fluffy movie nearly everyone can enjoy. Grady Harp

EDWARD (2012-05-23 10:36)

Good Open-Slow Mid-OK Ending

GOOD OPEN -- With a "jumpstart" from the original Nanny McPhee, the excitement and anticipation from the first film gives you a good springboard to the opening, and the World War setting a believable and involving premiseSLOW MID -- One magic trick to the next gets you through the middle of the movie as do Emma Thompson, Maggie Smith, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Ralph Fiennes, but the continuing story was a little too slow and non-involvingOK ENDING -- although the ending was predictable, the return home of Ewan McGregor and undoing of his idiodic brother, Rhys Ifans, provided an enjoyable conclusion to this installment of Nanny McPhee

southernsiblingno7 (2012-05-17 01:27)

Very Good Family Movie

Saw this movie today... very good family movie. It is very appropriate for families with you children; language was clean; no violence. This movie did what a movie is suppose to do... entertain it's audience. Really enjoyed it.

(2012-05-16 09:34)

Not nearly as good as the first

This review is from: Nanny McPhee Returns (DVD) Bought it for the kids for Christmas, not anywhere near as good, not as funny, not as entertaining, as the first. The characters don't ring true, and the antics are just too out there. The kids watched it once and haven't picked it up since.

(2012-05-15 02:24)

Nothing like a 2nd Nanny

The Nanny McPhee films are wonderful. First off, this Return, is not just Pt II, it is volume II, and deals with many of the same issues, with others tossed in.In this case, our Nanny is called to help a young mother with three young'uns while her husband is away. Instead of matrimonial problems, there are gambling debts to be paid while lessons are learned. Problem solving with McPhee is thinking outside the breadbox, in fact, this franchise in the making could be a successful parenting/problem solving seminar. Parenting With Nanny McPhee..Magic in the Huddle (or something like that).Maggie Smith and Emma Thompson are a good pair for the film that makes this believable, entertaining, and educational (for consequence based parenting). My first look at the DVD cover reminded me of Bednobs and Broomsticks...both have magic, and a nanny who comes to rescue. This is a film that will be fondly remembered as one of the highlights of our generation.

(2012-05-14 17:34)

Every Little Thing She Does is Magic

There's something about the Nanny McPhee character that appeals to me even more than Mary Poppins. I grant you that Nanny McPhee is no looker, what with her hairy warts, her snaggletooth, and her bulbous nose all glaring at you as if she were an endurance test for her clients. All the same, she knows what she's doing. Perhaps it has something to do with her magic, which doesn't serve as a vehicle for light, whimsical musical numbers; it's harsher and more direct, the kind that could conceivably subdue unruly children were it real. Under her rules, it seems plausible that a child can actually learn his or her lesson, and indeed, all the children in this film are challenged in ways that many family films wouldn't care to consider. But it's not all strict policies and firm magical consequences - with each lesson the children learn, she gets progressively less ugly, and by the end, she looks like the Emma Thompson we know and love."Nanny McPhee Returns," the sequel to the oddly charming 2005 film adapted from Christianna Brand's "Nurse Matilda" books, is not an equal to its predecessor; it surpasses it on just about every level, from setting to characterization to dialogue to theme, making for a film that's fun, thoughtful, and every so slightly creepy. It's not creepy in traditional, obvious ways, like you would expect from a brooding horror movie. It is, however, heightened to a state of strange otherworldliness, a place where audiences - children included - can actually see the humor in a pair of hitwomen threatening to remove a man's kidney's before deciding he should be stuffed like a dead bird. It's also a place where we feel genuine tension from the sight of children disarming a bomb that's only seconds away from detonating. In a normal universe, all this would be astoundingly inappropriate. Here, it's just right.The plot, which shifts the setting from the nineteenth century to the days of World War II, has Nanny McPhee (Thompson) entering the lives of the Green family, who manage a farm in the British countryside. The mother, Isabel (Maggie Gyllenhaal), is at her wits end. Her three children - Norman (Asa Butterfield), Megsie (Lil Woods), and Vincent (Oscar Steer) - are constantly fighting. Her husband is off fighting in the war. Her financial situation is steadily declining. She's continuously harassed by her good-for-nothing brother-in-law, Phil (Rhys Ifans), who has secretly gambled away the farm and is desperately trying to get her to sign away her half of the ownership. She tries to make ends meet by managing a village shop, but her associate, Mrs. Docherty (Maggie Smith), is just this side of loony, making it next to impossible to keep the shop in order. Worst of all, her children's rich, spoiled, snotty cousins - Cyril (Eros Vlahos) and Celia (Rosie Taylor-Ritson) - have been sent to stay on the farm.Nanny McPhee, with her trusty cane, can make magic happen with a bang on the floor, although not in conventional, innocent ways. To make the children stop fighting, for example, she forces them to hit, pull, and kick themselves individually, and she makes it clear that she will put an end to it only on the condition that they apologize to one another. They better hurry; more of the room is being destroyed, and letters from the Greens' father are liable to get thrown into the fire. Later on, when all five children have to work together to find a litter of prize piglets, Nanny McPhee intentionally makes it harder for them by having the pigs do what they normally cannot do, such as climb trees, jump long distances, and have them partake in a surprisingly entertaining display of synchronized swimming.With the notable exception of Uncle Phil, that rotten excuse of a man, every character develops in harmony with the story, which is to say we learn more about them as the film progresses. As a result, no one is a one-dimensional caricature. Cyril and Celia, for example, may have lived a privileged life, but that doesn't mean they're immune to emotional turmoil, mostly the result of parents who are more interested in themselves. If they act like brats, it's only because they know no other way to receive attention. Likewise, the Green children would like nothing more than for their father to come home; they're angry that he had to leave them and their mother alone, and since they're fairly isolated from the rest of the world, they have no one to take it out on except each other. Not a single child in this movie is bad. They merely have no healthy outlet for their pent up feelings.Hanging over the whole situation is the threat of enemy bombing, unlikely though it may be. Thompson, who also wrote the screenplay, somehow manages to take this unfortunate reality and lighten it up, not to the point of ridiculousness, but just enough for it to be engaging to a younger audience. I don't know how she managed that delicate balance between childish whimsy, maturity, and morbidity, but somehow or another, she did it. I was also impressed by her portrayal of Nanny McPhee, a no-nonsense but caring witch whose magic can make the best of any situation, no matter how desperate it may seem. "Nanny McPhee Returns" is a pure delight from beginning to end - charming, funny, touching, and intelligent, one of the best family films I've seen all year.

Kristina T (2012-05-11 03:09)

A Great Family Film

This was a great family film. Emma Thompson was perfect as Nanny McPhee. The visuals were great. You really felt like you were a part of the story.This movie is a wonderful family film. If we do not support family films, then they will not be made. Who cares about Jolie, Cruise and all the action films. We as parents need to support films that have a good message. Nanny McPhee Returns has a wonderful message of standing up for yourself and family comes first.

(2012-05-10 16:26)

Nanny McPhee Need Not Have Returned

We thoroughly enjoyed Nanny McPhee and were thrilled to watch Nanny McPhee Returns. The first few minutes were hopeful, the set was very colorful and the plot was just beginning to be laid out. Five to ten minutes into the movie and we all knew we were watching a bomb of a movie. The characters were dull and wooden, the plot insipid and contrived. A woman's husband is off to war and she is left to try to keep the farm and pay the bills. Her brother-in-law (really stupid character) is determined to get her to sign away the farm. It all depends upon selling or not selling six piglets (really!!). The young children watching began to trickle out of the room to go play with their Legos, followed by various adults leaving to get a good long drink in the kitchen and maybe a bite to eat, anything to not have to return to the Nanny McPhee Returns movie. Everything about this movie was poorly done. It is slap stick at its absolute worst. Nanny McPhee should not have returned.

(2012-05-06 14:27)

a moms review

This movie was not quite as good as the first movie for me. Nanny McPhee lost some of her oomph. She's slightly more comical, and the lessons left something to be desired. The movie is wonderful comic fun. My kids realy liked it. The first movie was a bit more serious in nature, but with lots of fun. This movie is all out fun. It's seriousness is drowned out by loads of silly comedy (goofball brother in law-- hit women--swimming pigletts--and burping crow). There were some unresolved issues that I didn't like concerning the cousins, but I realy liked the end and who the old woman turned out to be. That was fun, and unexpected. All in all I really liked this movie, and would recomend it for it's clean family fun.

Big Vic (2012-05-05 23:52)

Actually This Was a Pretty Darn Good Movie

Didn't have high expectations for this film but I must say it did catch my by surprise. The acting and the sets were superb and the special effects were GREAT. The is surely a movie your kids are to enjoy now and on DVD.

(2012-05-04 17:16)

Maybe Nanny McPhee is for adults?

I have no idea if today's children would like this movie. I just know I adored Nanny McPhee Returns. I'm in my 60s. This movie was so heart warming, I'll admit I shed a few tears. Reminded me of the great Disney movie Darby O'Gill and the Little People. Just an adorable little film. Why don't they make more movies like they did in the fifties? Surely not every film has to be made for teenagers?

R T S (2012-05-04 07:06)

Nanny McPhee Return

I have seen the frist ONE. This moive alomst asgood as the frist one. There some differnt in this moive and some are same (or close to).If you have young kids they might like this moive.

SpikeHat (2012-05-03 17:17)

Not bad, but a few awkward scenes

Production and art direction was good. The special effects wereadequate. Warning if you like to sit right down & start eating yourpopcorn; the first part of the movie has lots of sloppy manure to setup the farm scene. I almost hurled! I'd say the minor roles byR.Fiennes and E.McGregor were jerky, and seemed more like cameos.Kids may enjoy it, even to LOL a few times. However I would say thissad part was, in a word, cruel: **SPOILER** during a picnic, a telegramarrives saying that soldier Dad was killed in action --bummer! Thechildren don't believe he is dead, so the boys visit the "War Office"to find out for sure; turns out the telegram was a forgery by Mom'sevil brother so he could get her to sell the family farm. Quite shi++yfor a kid's story, eh? This was a big wet blanket compared to the restof the film's high-jinks. I almost forgot-- a stray "enemy bomb" fallsinto their barley field, unexploded, and the children rush over todisarm it. Good parenting. Are the kids successful, or not? I wouldn'tspoil that scene for you.

Emily Pasternak (2012-05-02 22:14)

Adult Critics Don't Like A Kids Movie

Though most critics seem disappointed with this movie, I urge you to recall that this is in fact a children's movie and most adult critics never seem to get it right. As the movie is for a younger audience, all the little kids I know thoroughly enjoyed it without question. They laughed at the humour all the way through the movie and even some of the older people seemed to enjoy it a lot.Yes, it's no Lord of the Rings, but is it supposed to be? It's made entirely for kids and I think that the critics were expecting to much. It's a great family movie and if definitely worth seeing it you want to bring a long some little kids.

Chuck (2012-05-02 12:56)

We all loved it

Despite paying $80 for tickets, popcorn, and drinks for the five us it was a great experience. Everyone in the family loved the movie. My girls, 7, 5, and 3 were captivated by the story. My wife and I laughed at how the lessons were taught. I could not have asked for more.

Bailey Rose (2012-05-02 00:26)

Absolutely delightful-- I was smiling the entire time.

I sat down to watch this movie with my 7-year-old brother not knowingwhat to expect having not seen the first "Nanny McPhee." I wassurprised about how brilliant this film turned out to be, even thoughwatching it was my decision. For those who are unfamiliar, this movie is about a woman named IsabelGreen. She lives with her three children, and her husband is offfighting in a war. When the Greens' two cousins, the Grays, come for avisit, the five children start causing trouble for Isabel. Who is theone to fix this problem? Nanny McPhee.With the amazing cast and beautiful acting, I thought this movie wasfantastic. It had the right amount of humor and magic to makeeverything work. During the more serious scenes (mainly the scene withNorman and Cyril after they receive the telegram), I felt the sameemotions as the characters. Though I enjoyed all the characters and cast members, there are a fewthat stood out to me. Eros Vlahos and Asa Butterfield as Cyril Gray andNorman Green. These two young actors stole the show at most parts! Erosis a great comedy actor, and made me laugh several times. Asa was funnyas well, but it was the emotion that he added to the character thatmade him stand out. Well done to these two boys.I give this movie an 9/10. The ONLY reason I'm not giving it a full10/10 is because I think that some things could've been explained justa little better (the only instance I can think of at the moment is whenthe Greens got the telegram from the war office. I knew what it meant,but I'm not sure if my brother did. Other younger viewers might notunderstand right away. It is discussed again later on, of course).Other than that, I think this movie was brilliantly made and cast andeverything. I would completely recommend this movie to anyone;especially anyone who loves funny, clever, and heartwarming movies.

(2012-04-28 03:58)

Nanny McPhee Returns

This review is from: Nanny McPhee Returns (DVD) Very good movie. Not as good as the first Nanny McPhee, only because you kind of knew what to expect, but still very entertaining, and very imaginative. Good family movie.

PJ (2012-04-27 16:01)

Not as Good As Original

The original was more magical and captured the audience better. This one seemed to assume that the audience would not get Emma Thompson getting more beautiful and the magic wasn't as sparkly. Too many comical characters (Uncle Phil, Owner and Owner's husband of the general store and the two enforcers). Really disappointed.