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Nanny McPhee Returns Review

Release Date: Aug 20, 2010
Rated: Rude humor, some language and mild thematic elements
Runtime: 1 hr. 49 min.
Genres: Comedy, Family
Director:Susanna White
Cast:Emma Thompson, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Rhys Ifans, Maggie Smith, Asa Butterfield. Full cast + crew

Movies.com Critics

3.0

Dave White Profile <h3>Dave White</h3> <p><strong>Your Movies.com Man at the Multiplex</strong></p> <br /> <p>Dave White's first movie review was of the animated feature Snoopy Come Home. He was seven years old...<a href="http://www.movies.com/movie-reviews/dave-white">Read full profile</a></p>

Same nanny, different day. Read full review

4.0

Jen Yamato Profile <h3>Jen Yamato</h3> <p><strong>A movie fiend on a mission</strong></p> <br /> <p>Jen Yamato is a walking, popcorn-eating contradiction: she loves all kinds of cinema, from art films to schlocky B-movies...<a href="http://www.movies.com/movie-reviews/jen-yamato">Read full profile</a></p>

The poor man's Mary Poppins is back! Read full review

Other Critics provided by Metacritic.com

Critics scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

3.0

52

out of 100

Metascore^®
Mixed or average reviews
based on a weighted average of all
critic review scores.
30

out of 100

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern
This children's entertainment-grownups beware!-is preoccupied by squishy stuff that includes mud and poop, as well as by syrup that oozes from cabinet drawers.

Read Full Review
63

out of 100

USA Today Claudia Puig
The end result, while entertaining, is the kind of unruly mess you can't imagine the indomitable Nanny McPhee tolerating.

Read Full Review

67

out of 100

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum
Thompson, who also wrote the script, has skittery, baffling fun enjoining her plummy guest actors (including Ralph Fiennes, Rhys Ifans, and Maggie Smith) to play broad Brit types.

Read Full Review
70

out of 100

The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt
James Newton Howard's music picks up its comic cues perhaps a bit too swiftly and loudly, but little of this detracts from the movie's many pleasures.

Read Full Review
See all Nanny McPhee Returns reviews at Metacritic.com

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For Families provided by Common Sense Media

OK for kids 7+

Fantasy isn't as enchanting as original, but it's still fun.

What Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that this fantasy sequel is a great choice for families. The on-screen kids fight and misbehave a lot until Nanny McPhee disciplines them; ultimately, they learn important lessons about being helpful, selfless, and brave. Violence is limited to physical comedy gags like a bird that nearly explodes and two women who look harmless but are actually hit-women. One of the subplots involves a relative who's in the hole for so much money that he tries to bully hissister-in-law to sell her share of the farm.

Families can talk about what Nanny McPhee means by her rule that when kids want her butdon't need her, she must go. How does it affect the family she's with?
How do the cousins impact each other? At first they're at each other'sthroats, but eventually they grow to work together and even love eachother. What changes their relationship?
How does Nanny McPhee's specific sort of magic allow her subjects to figure out their own problems?

The good stuff

Educational value: Through Nanny McPhee's lessons to the children, young viewers will learn the importance of working with others, following their instincts, and standing up for what they believe and the people they love.
Messages: Nanny McPhee's charges learn to work together, share, act courageously, be selfless, never lose faith, and love each other. It's a strongly positive message for all kids.
Role models: Although the two uncles aren't positive role models (nor are they intended to be), the women (save for the missing aunt) all are: Mrs. Green is patient, kind, and loving, always going out of her way to help Mrs. Docherty and please her children and niece and nephew. Nanny McPhee herself proves that beauty isn't dictated physically, but rather by what your character has to offer those around you.

What to watch for

Violence and scariness: Comic violence includes people getting swept up by a sudden gust of wind; a bird expanding and looking like he's about to burst (but he doesn't); kids pushing, shoving, and fighting with each other; and a man being told that he's going to be "stuffed" as penalty for not repaying a loan.
Sexy stuff: Two kisses between a married couple, and some comic flirting between the hit-women and their target.
Language: Very infrequent use of "hell" and "oh my God." Also, the cousins call each other names like "savages," " "awful," and the like. Other insults include "weak-willed," "cock and bull," "wicked," and "rotten."
Consumerism: Not an issue
Drinking, drugs and smoking: Not an issue

Common Sense Media

An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology.