Nanny McPhee And The Big Bang

Gathering momentum from the charming first installment in the series, Emma Thompson has adapted and scripted a superb children's film in Nanny McPhee And The Big Bang.

Whilst the more hopeful adult audience member might wish that the warty Nanny has managed to infiltrate the Hadron Collider and finally put the universe's genesis in perspective, in actuality we are transplanted from the nineteenth century setting of the original to the Second World War, with Mrs Isabel Green (Maggie Gyllenhaal) at her wit's end with three children at home, her husband at war and the imminent arrival of two cousins being evacuated from London to the sleepy village where they live.

Isabel works in a shop for the dotty Mrs Doherty (the character of baby Aggie from the first film grown into her dotage) and is convinced by powers outside of her ken to engage the services of Nanny McPhee (small C, big P) in order to help her out with the child care of James, Minnie and Vincent as she focuses on her current predicament of dealing with her brother in law, Uncle Phil who has, unbeknownst to her, gambled away the deeds to the farm. The arrival of her childrens' spoilt cousins Cyril and Celia spurs her own children into anarchy and the entrance of Nanny (after an initially entertaining case of mistaken identity) kick starts the film into a wholesome world of adventures and lashings of ginger beer.

Thompson’s adaptation of the source material (Christianna Brand's 'Nurse Matilda' books) is entirely savvy, since they wholly grip and entertain the target demographic without a trace of modern cynicism. An obsession with the scatological as Cyril bemoans the "land of poo" they have arrived in and Mrs Doherty's embracement of cowpats as cushions are a constant, entertaining diversion. The film doesn't have a weak link in the portrayal of the endearing characters and, whilst the children are universally excellent, the film belongs to Maggie Gyllenhaal whose charming turn as an English rose gathers you into the world quickly. All this before a litter of CGI piglets perform arboreal gymnastics and synchronised swimming. A deserved hit in the cinema and looking fantastic on Blu-ray, roll on Nanny McThree.



Released on DVD and Blu-ray on 19th July 2010 by Universal Pictures UK.

Reviewed by Simon Cole.