Rating: ««« out of ««««

Running Time: 130 minutes

I’ll be honest and write that I didn’t hold out much hope for a sequel to a Disney family classic from 54 years ago. Thankfully, the new film Mary Poppins Returns is a pleasant surprise. It may not live up to the original, but it does provide plenty sweetness and visual pop (even throwing in an unexpected cameo for good measure), providing families with plenty of fun this holiday season.

The plot itself isn’t exactly light and frothy. It follows Michael Banks (Ben Whishaw) the grown-up son from the original film, still living in the family home. Now a widower and single father of three, trouble arises when the bank informs him they are about to foreclose on the residence. Michael and his sister Jane (Emily Mortimer) desperately try to find a solution to the financial crisis, although all hope seems lost.

Spirits rise, however, with the unexpected arrival of Mary Poppins (Emily Blunt).

Stunned that the nanny wasn’t simply a figment of their imaginations, the siblings welcome Poppins in. The sitter takes care of the kids, whisking them to fantastic locales as the deadline looms closer.

This effort seeks to emulate the style of the original feature and does so unexpectedly well. Blunt hits the right notes as an appropriately firm, yet kindhearted Poppins.

The movie also looks striking and many of the recreations may trigger a nostalgic reaction. Musical numbers are solid, but it’s difficult to gauge whether there are any earworms quite as memorable as some of the original’s best songs.

At least the big refrains are fun to watch, with very elaborate dance choreography that includes an entire cadre of lamplighters (including Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda) swinging around poles, as well as a tune with all the characters singing and floating above London while hanging onto balloons. These sequences are all very well realized and technically impressive.

For this reviewer, the film’s highlight was the scenes that combine the human characters with hand-drawn animation. They perfectly emulate the original and are a joy to witness.

The movie hits its peak as Poppins and the kids enter a bowl and find themselves speaking, singing and eventually becoming involved in a chase with various animal characters (who serve as something of a metaphor for what’s happening to the family in London). This sequence is an absolute blast.

Admittedly, there are some minor issues.

There’s a bizarrely high number of references to Royal Doulton ceramics and the product placement is occasionally jarring. Even though it all results in the film’s best sequence, the name is mentioned a few too many times (those looking for a new drinking game should even be wary, you’ll be completely under the table by the time the characters have exited the bowl).

And despite a nice airborne finale, the movie does seem to run out of steam and momentum toward the close.

Still, even I’ll admit this follow-up is much better than predicted.

Kids will no doubt enjoy much of what they see, and parents who fondly remember the original won’t be rolling their eyes at the attempts to recreate the same kind of magic. If anything, adults will be impressed by just how much it gets right. Like its lead character, Mary Poppins Returns breezes in and is a surprising amount of fun.

Visit: www.CinemaStance.com

By Glenn Kay

For the Sun

There were two styles of Rugby played on Nov. 10 at Public School Stadium, one before the snow started (BS) and one after the sudden storm kicked into high gear (AS).

It was quite an invitation to a team of Indigenous Australians that had traveled several thousand miles to play a mostly local team of Indigenous Warriors, especially based on a feature video that was distributed in over 100 countries. But the invitation was accepted by the team from Down Under and Gallup’s Rugby maven Timaris Montano put together a group of former Gallup High players to meet the challenge.

It was more of a ‘fun’ event than an actual contest. The Australians had played together for some time, even whipping the UNM team by a score of 82-27 in decent weather. But the benefit of this inaugural meeting was twofold; to build this sport into a more widely accepted activity in this area, and also to raise more awareness of the Community Pantry and the work they do. All proceeds from this match, either monetary or in foodstuffs, went to the Pantry to help in their effort to feed those who would otherwise go hungry.

The brave souls in attendance were well-bundled against the early winter weather and attempted to encourage players from both teams to do their best.

The teams met shortly after the game at the Community Center for a Navajo Taco dinner and a chance to talk about their sport with others of a like interest. Both teams exchanged small gifts to keep the memories of this night present for a longer period of time. For the local players, it was an opportunity to again play like they had in high school, and for the men from Australia, the game was another chance to spread the excitement of this sport to areas where it is little known.

Both teams succeeded, but next time we’ll hope for much better weather!

For all the spectators, players, coaches and others that took the weekend for a lot of youth football, the Sixth Annual Four Corners Football Championship was another success story as the weather stayed nice, if not a little warm for the two-day event.

Actually it was a little longer than just the weekend as teams showed up early for the food and entertainment on Friday night, too, and turned it into a long, enjoyable weekend for all. For local businessmen and women, the weekend started on Thursday with a Business After Hours at the Sammy Chioda TDFL Field sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce.

A Gallup team, the Tigers, won the title in the eight-year old division, but three other Gallup teams placed second in the six divisions that were played.

The undefeated Flag Football Cowboys clinched the championship in that division with a 20-6 win over the Broncos.

The TDFL was recognized this past year by the NFL for being 100 percent compliant with the USA Football Heads Up program on concussions. Former Pittsburgh Steeler Kicker Roy Gerela was sent as an ambassador to Gallup specifically for this tournament.

Rating: ««« out of ««««

Running Time: 117 minutes

Audiences have certainly gotten a lot of Spider-Man over the past 15 years, including a film franchise, a rebooted franchise and another reconfigured version as part of the Marvel Universe.

Now, Sony brings not one, but numerous incarnations of the superhero into an animated take on the character. Surprisingly, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is better than anticipated, employing unique visuals and plenty of action, while poking fun at tropes associated with the role.

This version follows teenager Miles Morales (Shameik Moore), who lives in a world inhabited by a heroic Spider-Man (Chris Pine). When the lead is also bitten by a radioactive spider, he begins to develop the same incredible abilities. This comes in handy after the sinister Kingpin (Liev Schreiber) opens a dimensional portal and mortally wounds Spider-Man.

As the time-space continuum begins to unravel and pose a threat to all existence, the young Morales finds it difficult to adapt to his new abilities and stop the threat. However, he soon encounters other, very different versions of Spider-man who have arrived from parallel universes.

The group teams up with Morales in the hope of saving the universe and getting back to their alternate realities.

The film has a slightly darker tone than previous versions, likely serving tweens and teens more than younger children.

Its unusual central concept of presenting an alternate universe that gets rid of the more traditional incarnation of Spider-Man early on may come as an initial shock, but it adds a little more variety and unexpectedness to the proceedings. The choice also allows the villain to pose a more significant and dangerous threat to the hero.

What serves the tale best are its various and very flawed Spider-Mans who arrive on the scene.

Morales finds himself being trained by a broken version of his hero; a shabbier, out-of-shape Peter Parker (Jake Johnson) still pining from a break-up with his lady love in his home dimension. It’s actually quite amusing to see an older, depressed version of the altruistic kid attempt to serve as a mentor to a young apprentice. There are a lot of fun interchanges between the pair.

And of course, the other Spider-Mans who unexpectedly arrive add even more laughs. They include a Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld) who has taken on the mutant abilities, a brooding neo-noir Spider-Man (Nicholas Cage), Japanese girl (Kimiko Glenn) and her Spider-Man robot, and most enjoyably, a smart-alecky, porcine version of the character known as Spider-Ham (John Mulaney).

This motley crew adds plenty of jokes and lightness to the film.

While viewers have certainly become accustomed to the slick and polished computer generated visuals seen in Pixar films, this title wisely attempts a different look, combining technical flare to create a comic book appearance.

The style also provides plenty of kick during action scenes that feature Morales attempting to swing his way through the city streets.

There’s also an elaborate bit in which the protagonist must escape the clutches of a super-villain through the trees of a heavily wooded area surrounding a laboratory. These moments are impressive and, at times, even exciting.

Admittedly, it isn’t the best animated film of the year. The movie does feel a bit too lengthy for its own good and doesn’t have a stand-out climactic battle that will be remembered after the credits roll, but this is still an entertaining take on the hero. And it also effectively displays how an outcast (or group of outsiders) can succeed against all odds.

In the end, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse makes for a fine addition to the character’s cinematic cannon.

Visit: www.CinemaStance.com

By Glenn Kay
For the Sun