Nanny McPhee Returns Reviews

'Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang' is a surprising improvement over the original, funnier and more original as well as a decent cast (Emma Thompson, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Rhys Ifans, Maggie Smith, Ralph Fiennes, Asa Butterfield)

To conclude it is an achievement, better than the original and definitely worth a look

At first I was self-conscious seeing this movie because I kinda liked the first one better, but nonetheless, ABC Family decided they were going to air it last night, so I took the liberty of watching it and..... nope still nothing. Rhys Ifans... Oh, how I adore thee... Maggie Gyllenhaal was just way to much for me, her character was just so out of breath most of the time, but its because of those pesky children of hers. The children verses the cousins I mean. As usual they all mess about and what not, and once again Nanny McPhee ('Thats small C, big P) enters the scene with her stick, and a bird; now to me I was like, a bird this time?
Anyways, I'm fast forwarding to what I remember mostly.
Right in the beginning, after Nanny McPhee finally stops the children from fighting and stuff, I think it was her big mole that disappeared, wait what? Already? In the first one it took quite some time..... interesting.

Let me just say that Maggie Smith is just so adorable, but since she played the Old version of baby Agatha from the first, she had me question this movie, Is Nanny McPhee ancient? That part where she showed us her rattle and reviled who she was, sort of made me mad. I just didn't get it.

This review is so-so logic for me, I thought the movie was okay, had some falls like "I can feel it in my Bones" part and the flying scene, if you all know what I mean. All in all, decent film, and if Emma Thompson decides for a 3rd, go right ahead, I enjoy her acting. :)

I was actually pretty shocked when I found out that a sequel was being planned because I did think at the end of the first film that it didn't really need another film. Nanny McPhee And The Big Bang/Nanny McPhee Returns was as expected entertaining for kids and never seemed to lose it's charm. The one main flaw that this film had like the first one did was that it really didn't seem completely suitable for adults. There was one thing that I feel that this film had but the first film lacked and that was that its realism. I mean, yeah it is obviously a very fictional film that is clearly a Mary Poppins-like attempt of this generation but because the film was set in World War II, there was more drama in it.


Nanny McPhee arrives to help a harried young mother who is trying to run the family farm while her husband is away at war, though she uses her magic to teach the woman's children and their two spoiled cousins five new lessons. Emma Thompson pens the screenplay and stars as the eccentric and unique Nanny McPhee. Her performance is good as Nanny McPhee but I do think that she is perhaps a bit too creepy around the children to be an appealing nanny. I mean, there aren't really that many changes to the Nanny McPhee character in the sequel as there was in the first film. Hmmm... I didn't really know what to make of Maggie Gyllenhaal's character and performance. I don't think we really knew her character THAT well and I don't think Maggie suited the film very much unfortunately. Yeah, she is a good actress but I am afraid to say that she was miscast in this film. There were good appearances from Ewan McGregor, Ralph Fiennes and Maggie Smith too.


After having no experience making feature films at all, Susanna White surprisingly did a good job as director. There was its charm and beauty with the children and the settings but I couldn't help but noticed that they involved animals a lot more in this one. Its like they copied a bit off Babe but with good intentions. Emma Thompson has been a screenwriter for over 15 years and hasn't written that many films but she did well in Sense And Sensiblity but she does need a breakthrough script where she'll win another Oscar. Her script in the sequel of Nanny McPhee And The Big Bang was witty and fun so it was almost pretty much the same as the first one. You could easily tell that this is a very British film.


Overall, Nanny McPhee And The Big Bang is perhaps like a sequel to the first one like Home Alone 2: Lost In New York is to Home Alone with pretty much the same dialogue, the same bits of fun and entertainment and similar characters. Decent entertainment but nothing special.