Psycho's Movie Reviews #46: Nanny McPhee & The Big Bang (2010)

Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang (released in the United States and Canada as Nanny McPhee Returns) is a 2010 period fantasy comedy film directed by Susanna White, produced by Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner and Lindsay Doran with music by James Newton Howard and co-produced by StudioCanal, Relativity Media, Working Title Films and Three Strange Angels. It is a sequel to the 2005 film Nanny McPhee. It was adapted by Emma Thompson from Christianna Brand's Nurse Matilda books. Thompson reprises her role as Nanny McPhee, and the film also stars Maggie Gyllenhaal, Ralph Fiennes, Rhys Ifans, Ewan McGregor, Asa Butterfield and Maggie Smith. The film was theatrically released on 20 August 2010 by Universal Pictures.

The film received positive reviews from critics and it earned $93.2 million on a $35 million budget. It also received a Young Artist Award nomination for Best Performance in a Feature Film. The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray in the UK on 19 June 2010.

Plot:

In the 1940s, Isabel Green is driven to her wit's end by her hectic life while her husband Rory fights in World War II. Between trying to keep the family farm up and running and her job in the village shop, run by the slightly mad Mrs. Docherty, she also has three boisterous children to look after, Norman, Megsie and Vincent. When her children's two wealthy cousins, Cyril and Celia, also then come to live with them and start fighting with them, Isabel requires childcare help.

When the magical Nanny McPhee arrives, the children at first do not listen and carry on fighting, which she soon puts a stop to with her magic. Meanwhile, Isabel's brother-in-law, Phil, has gambled away his half of the farm, and is being chased by two hired female assassins working for casino owner Mrs. Biggles. He desperately attempts to make Isabel sell her half of the farm, using mean and spiteful schemes to leave her no choice. The children find out one of his schemes, leading them to work together to fix it. Isabel takes the children on a picnic during which an ARP Warden, Mr. Docherty, warns them about bombs and how he imagines a pilot might accidentally release his bomb. At the end of the picnic, Phil delivers a telegram saying Rory was killed in action. Isabel and everyone else believe the telegram, but Norman says that he can "feel it in his bones" that his father is not dead. He tells this to Cyril, who at first says it is just because he is upset, but then agrees that Norman might be right, so the two boys ask Nanny McPhee to take them to the War Office in London, where Cyril and Celia's father, Lord Gray works.

There, Nanny McPhee and the boys ask Lord Gray, who is very important in the War Office, what has happened to Rory. At first Lord Gray sneers at Norman's disbelief at his father's death, but after Cyril blurts out that he knows his parents are getting a divorce, Lord Gray checks what has happened. While he is gone, Cyril tells Norman that he and Celia have been sent away because their parents will be splitting up, and Norman asks where Cyril and Celia will live. When Cyril replies that their parents only want to show each other off, Norman tells Cyril that he and Celia are welcome to live on the farm with the Greens. Lord Gray returns and tells Norman that his father is not dead, but is missing in action, and that there is no record of a telegram being sent to his mother. After the boys leave, Norman deduces that Phil forged the telegram.

While the boys are at the War Office, Megsie, Celia and Vincent try to stop Isabel from signing the papers and selling the farm. Just as she is about to do so, a German pilot accidentally drops a huge bomb; it shakes everything but does not explode and is left sticking out of the barley field. When Nanny McPhee returns with Norman and Cyril, Norman accuses Phil of forgery, which he admits to, and Isabel handcuffs him to the stove. The children go out to watch Mr. Docherty dismantle the bomb, but he falls from the ladder. Megsie takes over, and succeeds with the help of the other children and Nanny McPhee's jackdaw, Mr. Edelweiss. After Nanny McPhee helps to harvest the barley with a little magic, saving Phil from Mrs. Biggles' hitwomen in the process, it is revealed that old Mrs. Docherty is in fact baby Agatha from the first film and that she remembers Nanny McPhee. As Nanny McPhee walks away from the now happy family, the children and Isabel chase after her, only to see Rory, in army uniform with an injured arm, making his way to them. He runs to his family and they embrace.

In the mid-credits scene, Ellie, Vincent's elephant, is seen enjoying the magically operated Scratch-o-matic.

Production

Filming:

The village in the film is Hambleden in Buckinghamshire, the farm set and scenes were filmed in Hascombe, near Godalming in Surrey and the War Office scenes, both interior and exterior, were filmed at the University of London, and the motorbike scenes on various London roads. Dunsfold Aerodrome, the location of Top Gear, name Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang as being filmed there, with more filming taking place at Shepperton Studios.

Release/Reception/Box Office:

Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang was theatrically released on 20 August 2010 by Universal Pictures (2 April 2010 in the UK).

The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray in the UK on 19 June 2010. Nanny McPhee Returns, as the film was renamed for the North American market, was released on DVD and Blu-ray on 14 December 2010.

Critical response for the film was positive. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a rating of 75% based on 121 reviews. The site's critic consensus reads: "Emma Thompson's second labour of love with the Nanny McPhee character actually improves on the first, delivering charming family fare with an excellent cast." The Independent also gave a favourable review, with praise given to the actors and Thompson's script."

In the UK, the film opened at number one, with £2,586,760, outperforming new release The Blind Side, grossing a total of £16,211,057. In the United States and Canada, it debuted in seventh position with a $8.4 million. Gross exceeded $27 million.

My Review:

This is just an amazing film. So beautifully made. The entire movie is cast perfectly. I have no idea how many times I have seen this movie (and the first one) but its just perfection. Emma Thompson continues to wow audiences of every age. Such an amazing family movie. One of my absolute favourite movies of all time. I could watch it on repeat. An amazing story and message.

Fabulous. Ignore the reviews this is a gem of movie. This is a movie for those young at heart and those you still dream. The movie is moving funny romantic engrossing beautiful acted and will become a classic. Much better than over hyped Mary Poppins movies.

I spent more than a quarter of my life forgetting Nanny McPhee had a sequel. It wasn't as good as the first, but was enough to remind my sixteen-year-old self of the profound belief in magic I once had. If Hollywood can keep on making unnecessary remakes, I guess it's high time that we get another Nanny McPhee movie. In these trying times we need all the magic we can get.

Overall, I highly recommend this film, you've probably seen it; 7.5/10.