Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang

NANNY MCPHEE & THE BIG BANG (Blu-ray)

Release Date: July 19th, 2010
Certificate: U
Running Time: 105 minutes

Directed by: Susanna White

Cast: Emma Thompson, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Ralph Fiennes, Rhys Ifans, Maggie Smith, Ewan McGregor

The sequel to 2005’s Nanny McPhee brings Oscar® winner Emma Thompson back to the role of the magical nanny who can straighten up even the most trying of households with rampaging children running amok. Based on the Nurse Matilda books by Christianna Brand and written for the screen by Emma Thompson herself, Nanny McPhee and is a wonderful and enchanted tale about overcoming social boundaries of class and standing for the adults, and for kids, well, to sop being so naughty!

Whereas the first film was set in the 19th century, the Big Bang takes place some years later during WWII in a picturesque English village.

Mrs. Green (Maggie Gyllenhaal) has three children and tries to juggle being a mother with working in a local shop and keeping family farm running. Her husband Mr Green (Ewan McGregor) is away fighting in the war and things are getting a bit too much; the children, Norman (Asa Butterfield), Megsie (Lil Woods) and Vincent (Oscar Steer) are constantly at each other’s throats and payment on the farm’s tractor is soon to be overdue if they cannot sell some livestock in time. At the shop, things are also going south with an elderly woman who works with her. Mrs. Doherty (two-time Academy Award® actress Dame Maggie Smith), might be suffering from early signs of dementia and is creating more work than she is actually helping with.

With the arrival of her children’s two spoiled cousins, Cyril (Eros Vlahos) and Celia (Rosie Taylor-Ritson) who are sent to live with her while the war is on, it’s all too much and before long, strange voices start to whisper to Mrs. Green “the person you need is Nanny McPhee!”.

When Nanny McPhee arrives at Mrs. Green doorstep, it’s not a moment too soon as the children are about to get into an almighty one after one of the cousins break their father’s jar of homemade jam. With one bang of her magic stick though, the children realise they cannot go on fighting forever and soon force themselves to apologise for their behaviour. Sending them up to bed, Nanny tells the astonished Mrs. Green she can now have some time to herself and that lesson one is now complete.

Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang is much more lavish production that its predecessor; the set pieces, location and effects are much bigger and the music by James Newton Howard gives it an even more magical twist. Maggie Gyllenhaal does a surprising turn as the English mother displaying the perfect combination of exasperation and tenderness at all the right moments. Emma Thompson as the military deployed Nanny with secret skills that would put Bruce Wayne to shame, is nothing less than dazzling. Her ability to convey so much with one look or the raise of an eyebrow is superb and is testament to her reputation as one of England’s finest talents. Rhys Ifans as the villainous Uncle Phil who tries to get his sister in law Mrs Green to sell her farm is splendid. His schemes run from goofy to plain wicked as he grows more and desperate to get the money from her farm to pay of his own financial debts before he ends up stuffed by two burly henchwomen.

I was utterly surprised by how much I enjoyed this movie and was sucked in by the magic of Nanny McPhee, I quickly borrowed the first movie from my young nieces and before the day was done I had watched them both. Nanny’s lessons about learning to stop fighting, sharing nicely, helping each other and being brave and having faith come across in a very entertaining manner as well, and of course, they are all things which we grown-ups are in need of reminding now and again!

Patrick Samuel

The founder of Static Mass Emporium and one of its Editors in Chief is a composer and music producer with a philosophy degree. Static Mass is where he lives his passion for film and writing about it. A fan of film classics, documentaries and World Cinema, Patrick prefers films with an impeccable way of storytelling that reflect on the human condition.

You can find his music on Soundcloud .

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