Sequel Baiting #2 - Nanny McPhee vs Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang

When I think Nanny McPhee I think of a refined version of the Mary Poppins formula. Children who misbehave too badly for conventional nannies to deal with are taught by a stern, female, magician who uses her magic powers to induce delight and wonder as well as to teach. Where I felt Mary Poppins went wrong is by having the ultimate arc be Mr Banks’. Sure, he was stubborn, stuck up and in many ways looked down on his children but it felt like the ultimate resolution was him having a mental breakdown. Nanny McPhee focuses more on the children learning, all whilst incorporating some kind of mischief that’s afoot.

Based on the Nurse Matilda books, Nanny McPhee and its sequel, Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang have both enjoyed moderate critical and commercial success. So why did it end at 2? It had the higher budget and made less money. But the question is, does that mean it’s worse than the original. Well, I’ll be judging on 6 categories

Characters

There are a lot of characters in the Nanny McPhee movies, but which one’s stood out?

In Nanny McPhee we have Nanny McPhee herself, played by Emma Thompson, a mysterious witch who teaches children to behave by allowing their consequences to flow forth, with a little help from her magic. The Father is Cedric and he’s bumbling and depressed after the death of his wife, haunted by money problems whilst still loving his 7 children. Said 7 children are Simon, the eldest and most innovative, Lily, who is creative apparently, Tora, who’s the sensible one, Eric, who’s a nerd into fairy tales, Christina, Sebastian and the baby. We also have the chef Mrs Blatherwick, the illiterate but kind and loving Evangeline, and the vile, money-grubbing villain Selma Quickly.

There is a decent range of characters but some on them, it’s really only Simon I remember having any arc out of the children. I suppose it doesn’t really help that they all have similar motivations for causing trouble and he’s the de-facto leader. It would’ve been nice to see more friction between him and Tora, for example. Still, it’s a decent range of characters and all have their uses in the plot.

I give Nanny McPhee 3.5 out of 5 stars

In Nanny McPhee and the big bang there are a lot of characters, Nanny McPhee is largely unchanged, she’s a bit kinder in this but the kids are less naughty in this too. Instead of 7 children, there are 5 in this one, the Green Children and the Grey children. Norman is the oldest of the Green Children and has the most development of the 3. Megsie has no real character arc at all, she’s the most forgettable of the 5. Vincent is the youngest and stays out of the action at points, he liked stroking the piglets, that’s about it from him. The Grey children are more memorable, there’s the pompous Cyril, who grows to respect the Greens over time, and even comes to their aid at a vital moment and the prissy Celia, who has to get used to farm life and seems initially far less into it. She’s less inclined to engaging in the fighting but is ultimately dragged into it. She too grows over the film. The mother, Isabel a struggling mother having to cope with her children, having to take care of the farm and having a job, whilst her husband is away at the war. Phil Green is her husband’s brother, he’s snivelling and manipulative, even though he lacks in subtlety. Mrs Topsy and Mrs Turvey are employees of an unseen Mrs Biggles. (Reference to James Bigglesworth?) and are out either to collect their debt or perform surgery, they’re not subtle. Mr Edelweiss is Nanny McPhee’s estranged Raven friend who has an unfortunate habbit of eating window putty. Agatha is a batty old lady who is the baby from the original movie. Her husband is in the movie, he’s an air raid warden, and a bit batty. Finally, we have Farmer MacReadie, who’s played by Bill Bailey and likes piglets.

You’d think given that this movie has an even bigger cast than the last one, this would be worse at spreading the development when that’s actually not the case. Whilst Norman is really the only Green Child with any development, I can say 60% of the children are given proper character arcs, compare that with the 13% from the last movie. It helps that the children are initially at odds with each other so we can explore character motivations more easily. The supporting cast is quite vast in this movie, building more of a sense of community in a time of war. And it’s nice to have people who remember Nanny McPhee and the lessons that were taught to them. There was a guard at the war office that Nanny McPhee also taught, apparently to eat vegetables. I rate Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang 4 out 5 stars

Lessons

What lessons do the children need to learn and are they appropriate for the characters in question?

In Nanny McPhee, there are 5 lessons. Lesson 1 – To go to bed when they’re told, Lesson 2 – To get up when they’re told, Lesson 3 – To get dressed when they’re told, Lesson 4 – To listen and Lesson 5 – to do exactly as their told. These 5 lessons perfectly fit the state we see the characters in initially, 5 stars rated

In Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang Lesson 1 – To stop fighting, Lesson 2 – to share nicely, Lesson 3 – To help each other, Lesson 4 – To have courage and Lesson 5 – To have faith. The first 3 lessons are fine and decently fit with the dynamic between the characters, lessons 4 and 5 are confusing to me because it’s not established well in the behaviour of any of the child characters. None of them are seen as particularly cowardly and the closest thing we have to any of them losing faith is Celia, after being told her mother isn’t coming. Not much to base these 2 lessons on. I can only rate Nanny McFee and the Big Bang 3/5 stars

Morals

How were these lessons taught? Are there moral greys?

Lesson One in Nanny McPhee is taught when Nanny McPhee uses her staff to force the children’s misbehaviour to go too far, putting people at risk, until they agree to go to bed and are polite about it, this lesson is fine, as it the second lesson, taught when Nanny McPhee forces them to stay in bed, drink horrible medicine and eat peel broth when they feign illness. The third lesson is taught when they refuse to get dressed and instead dress the animals for Aunt Adelaide’s visit, the hijinks that ensue put Christiana at risk. This one is a little more confusing because Nanny McPhee helps use one of the dressed animals as a temporary decoy to allow them to come up with a new plan. Lesson 4 is taught when their attempts to get rid of Selma Quickly backfire and Cedric tells them of the money situation, which I’ll get to when I discuss plot, it’s a little bit of a cheat since it wasn’t them not listening that backfired but I’ll allow it. Lesson 5 is them listening to Agatha and performing hijinks to stop the end wedding. Not sure if listening to a baby and doing what it tells you to do is a great moral. Not a perfect showing at all here. 3/5 stars awarded

Lesson One in Nanny McPhee and the big bang is taught when Nanny McPhee uses her staff to make the fighting go too far, putting prized possessions at risk, this feels kinda like an homage to the last movie. Lesson 2 is taught when Nanny McPhee brings in animals the kids said they’d rather share their beds with and forces them to share or something. This moral is confused as a lot of lesson takes place in off-screen dialogue. Lesson 3 is a piglet chase, where the piglets are magically enhanced by Nanny McPhee, a good lesson. Lesson 4 is when the children disarm a bomb. This is fundamentally stupid, being brave and being stupid and putting yourself at risk with no idea what you’re doing are not the same thing and it could be a poor one to teach children. Lesson 5 is even worse, they regain faith upon the return of Mr Green. More on this in the plot synopsis, it’s heavily rushed and really ineffective, and not mixed with the harsh reality that it is war time. I can’t award more than 2 out 5 stars

Magic

What about the wonder and the splendour?

In Nanny McPhee, her magic is a little restrained in the opening, with only a creepy animated donkey to show before the final act. There’s no doubt that her transforming the wedding is something to behold though. But this is not just about the magic used, some of the colours are incredibly garish and hurt the eyes a little. I’ll give 3 out of 5 stars.

Nanny McPhee and the big bang uses its higher budget to allow for more magic. We have an animated elephant in the first act of the movie, followed by piglets doing synchronised swimming, a flying motorbike, moving statues and an ending that really borders on over-excessive and perhaps not in the best way. However the costume design and cinematography are better. I rate 4 out of 5 stars

Acting

Most of the actors in these movies are children? Are they convincing?

I’m honestly blown away by how many talented child actors they’ve got in this. Thomas Sangster as Simon gets the bulk of screentime in Nanny McPhee amongst the children and handles it well. Colin Firth is good as Cedric, and Emma Thompson excels as Nanny McPhee. I could name other actors but all of them perform fine in often very exaggerated roles. Kelly McDonald’s exaggerated posh accent may have grated on the nerves a bit.  4/5 stars

Asa Butterworth, who you may remember played Ender in Ender’s game (and I’ll be reviewing another film with him in it this year) does well as Norman but honestly the star role here is Eros Valhos as Cyril. His character is the deepest and gets the most screen time and he handles it fantastically. Bill Bailey was actually funny as farmer MacReedie, not sure why Dame Maggie Smith was necessary to play Agatha but she was good at it. Rosie Taylor-Valos as Celia was kind of annoying, particularly with her scream but I feel that was intentional. Aside from Mrs Topsey and Mrs Turvey, the roles are less exaggerated this time but the acting remains of a similar quality

Plot

What games are afoot and are they well told?

A struggling father relies on an allowance from Aunt Adelaide after the children scare off the agency’s final Nanny, the letterbox tells him he needs Nanny McPhee. She arrives and begins her lessons. Meanwhile, Aunt Adelaide is insisting the children have a woman’s influence, threatening the cut off the money if he doesn’t marry within the month. He turns to the only woman he knows, Selma Quickly. Because he’s a moron he doesn’t tell his children this. Aunt Adelaide pays a visit with the intent of taking one of the children away to live with her to ease his burden. Thanks to quick thinking, the scullery maid, Evangeline is taken instead, with the children surmising she would like the educational benefits of living with her. The children scare off Selma and he admits the truth, they come back to persuade her, revealing the money angle which gets Selma interested again. The wedding day happens and she reveals her mean colours. The children sabotage the wedding and she storms off, with Simon proposing that he marry Evangeline instead, there had been some chemistry.

It's an OK story but suffers a few defects often found in a children’s movie, it sometimes feels like the children are smarter than the adults, and not just in the playful way. I rate it 3.5/5 stars

A struggling woman trying to hold onto her farm is under constant pestering by Phil Green, who owes a farm to Mrs Biggles who’s sent Mrs Topsy and Mrs Turvey to get them, or his kidneys. Struggling to cope with fighting children, getting worse with the Grays arriving, the drawers tell her she needs Nanny McPhee. She arrives as Phil releases the piglets to try and stop a sale that would pay the rent on the tractor. The kids recapture the pigs and even secure more money which she uses on a picnic. During the picnic, Phil arrives with a telegram, saying Mr Green was killed in action. Norman has a feeling in his gut that he’s still alive. Cyril agrees to help him find proof and they head to the war office in London with Nanny McPhee to see his high-ranking father. Celia and Megsie try to do what they can to delay Mrs Green signing over the farm. Norman and Cyril find out that Mr Green is MIA, not dead (which could be worse) and they go back in celebration. In the mean-time, ludicrous circumstances result in a bomb being dropped on the farm. Norman asks to be arrested as his forgery is revealed and he’s cuffed to the stove They go out to disarm it but the only one trained is knocked out. They use nail scissors the cut the various wires. Mr Edelweiss eats the explosive putty allowing them to cut the final wire. Phil is confronted by Mrs Topsey and Turvey, who want to stuff him now. Mr Edelweiss is about to have explosive wind from the putty, Nanny McPhee makes it to Mrs Topsey and Turvey are blown away and the harvest is made early. She leaves as the father shows up out of the blue, I see execution as potential German spy in his future.

I liked this story until the final act, the bomb stuff is ludicrous even for this movie and the fact the father turns up at the end actually p*sses me off. The reaction to MIA shouldn’t be as positive as it is either. That and the Biggles subplot is unresolved, Phil could still have issues. That being said it feels kinder, the children feel more realistic, Mrs Green isn’t an idiot and there’s more a sense of togetherness there really wasn’t in the last movie

For these reasons, I’ll rate the story 3/5 stars

Conclusion

So Nanny McPhee receives 23/30 stars

Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang receives 20/30 stars

Whilst Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang may have the edge in terms of characters and the magic, the lessons and morals it teaches are a significant downgrade from its predecessor and for that reason it is the original Nanny McPhee that wins out in the end.