Tata Matilda e il grande botto

Not having seen Nanny McPhee 1, I wasn't sure what to expect, but I have to say I was very pleasantly surprised.

The film was very easy to get into and the story and plot were well written and set.

The actors young and old performed brilliantly making the whole thing enchanting and a highly believable fantasy.

The special effects were very well done and the comedy in it was delightful. I took my children with me, aged 5, 12, 15 and 18 and they all loved it too, with lots of laugh out loud moments and lots of smiles throughout.

All in all a very good film and I recommend it highly.

If you're going to see it I suggest you take all the family. Its a definite must see for all ages and you'll not be disappointed.

Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang is a personal project for Emma Thompson, starring and writing both the 2005 original and this sequel. She has an obvious love for this children's franchise and the novels of Christianna Brand. Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang was met with almost universal critical acclaim upon its initial release in the UK.

Isabel Green (Maggie Gyllenhaal) is a stressed out mother to Norman (Asa Butterfield), Megsie (Lil Wood) and Vincent (Oscar). Her husband (Ewan McGregor) is fighting in the Second World War and the family farm is suffering financial troubles. When Isabel's spoilt brat nephew and niece, Cyril (Eros Vlahos) and Celia (Rosie Taylor-Ritson) arrive from London they clash with her hardy county children: it is clear Isabel needs help. Luckily Nanny McPhee (Thompson) comes to disciple the children, teach them important life lessons and help save the farm from being sold by the dastardly Uncle Phil (Rhys Ifans).

Nanny Mcphee and the Big Bang is clearly aimed for young children and director Susanna White (who is known for television work on Bleak House and Generation Kill) attempts to keep a childish, playful tone throughout the film. This is shown in some of the set designs, like the pig scratchier, and the use of CGI animals. Many of the set pieces in the film felt like being from a cartoon. Young children will enjoy this sequel and there are strong moral messages such as working together and learning to share which parents will want to encourage. Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang is perfectly light and fluffy for boys and girls. The humour of the film is aimed at a young audience, focusing on poo and burping gags and general slapstick, which makes it harder to appeal to teens and adults. The children do grow as characters and slowly become more likable with Thompson and White looking beyond the stereotypes. Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang is a very British, quaint family film with it period, rural setting. This film is also the type of sequel where you do not need or any knowledge of the previous film. Yet the plot is basically a cross between Mary Poppins and a standard plot of someone trying to take property from the rightful owner through sabotage. Plus the filmmakers did not try hard enough to allow adults to enjoy the film as much as children would. Less poo gags and more swimming pigs for next time is my advice.

Thompson obviously enjoys her role and she did well in her performance as a hard but fair magical woman with a dead-pan delivery. She knows exactly what she wants to do as Nanny McPhee. Gyllenhaal offers a good performance and pulls off a decent English accent. Despite the over-the-top nature of the film, Gyllenhaal plays her character straight as a mother who is simply snowed under. The rest of the main cast are caricatures, with the child actors showing promise. But other performances did not fit well, like Sam Kelly as the Air Warrant. There are some cameos from big name actors like Ralph Fiennes and McGregor to smaller name actors like Bill Bailey, a talented comedian who is best known to American as the desk sergeant in Hot Fuzz. He was quite funny as a stereotypical farmer.

This film is about a group of spoiled children being tamed by Nanny McPhee's magical ways.

"Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang" has a simple plot that is accessible to both children and adults. The abundance of children and their misbehavior in the film should entertain and resonate with children. Nanny McPhee's mysterious ways of handling children is only limited by imagination, and also provide morality education in an engaging and fun manner. I find the ending rather touching, even though such an ending is expected as "Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang" is a children's film. It's a lovely fantasy tale for younger children.

Emma Thompson once again pens and stars in the candy-coloured film adaptation of the children's' books by Christianna Brand, following a very strict and very ugly nanny who brings order and manners to a household full of naughty children. This outing sees the titular character nursing a farmhouse family whose father is off at war. The mother, played by Maggie Gyllenhaal is obliged the sell the land to her nasty brother (Rhys Ifans), a slimy character who will not rest till he gets his way. Meanwhile the children's' vile London cousins come to stay - two little brats who bawk at the state of the earthy farm abode.

Enter Nanny McPhee - an otherworldly being who appears when a family needs her most - squashed-nosed and snaggle-toothed, she calmly teaches the children five important lessons, though when things get out of hand she must employ the same supernatural technique of setting down her walking stick as she did in her previous adventure, and to spectacular effect. Nanny McPhee attempts to set the household to rights using these very methods, while the family struggle on with their visitors and hope against hope that their father will return.

Thanks to Emma Thompson's involvement, the film boasts a impressive array of British thespians including Maggie Smith, Ewan McGregor and Ralph Fiennes as a senior WW2 army officer. Though characterisation is hardly profound in a story such as this, each actor has their moment to shine - and Gyllenhaal, as the young mother, sports a flawless British accent and conveys her trademark maternal emotion when needs be. Production values are stellar, with all the period details on display. The film whisks along at a nice pace and never gets bogged down in one place - Thompson's adaptation is wrought with real warmth and wit, and once again she works wonders on-screen under layers of prosthetics, with every wry glance and raise of the eyebrow worthy of a laugh.

Setting the story of against the backdrop of World War II is very smart move - the 'big bang' in the title referring to the imminent threat of bombings during this time period. This gives the film a foundation of realism that the previous movie lacked....however, there's little room left for war time misery in the thematic threads of this story - you're more like to find a group of piglets doing synchronised swimming than any sign of a swastika.

Ultimately this is a family film, written for children - talking to them, not at them and carrying a very sensitive message at its heart. There are no double-entendres for the adults the snigger at, this is harmless entertainment at its best. It may not be a new classic but it's nice to see something like this making its way to our screens during the Easter break.

I don't know what the critics here were expecting, but from some of the reviews I've read it seems that it wasn't a kids' film. In short, this is a lovely, well-written, beautifully cast film that's executed with great affection and makes maximum use of its chocolate-box locations.

Emma Thompson, aside from having no little talent for scriptwriting, is savvy enough to understand that the real stars of this film are the children and, in particular, Asa Butterfield and Eros Vlahos as Norman and Cyril respectively.

Rhys Ifans shows what an accomplished comic actor he is, even if his performance as Uncle Phil seems to draw much, both in characterisation and delivery, from that of Matt Dillon's portrayal of Healy in There's Something About Mary.

There's a lovely turn from Maggie Smith as Mrs Docherty and a reassuringly exuberant performance from Sam Kelly.

If there's a lull, it's when the action moves away from its countryside setting, although the scene played between Vlahos and Ralph Feinnes works nicely.

At a little under an hour and fifty minutes, it's quite long for children, yet my five- and eight-year-olds sat transfixed throughout. And in the end, that should be the yardstick by which any film aimed at younger cinema-goers should be measured.

As to Thompson herself, she is sublime when required, understated when the surrounding action demands. The reviewer who likened her performance to that of Roger Moore does not, I would suggest, appreciate either the characterisation of the Nanny McPhee role (much can be, and is, portrayed by simple facial expressions) or the very real acting ability of our erstwhile Bond. Comedy isn't all about snappy one-liners and the ability to convey comedy simply by saying nothing is an art in and of itself.

In the final analysis, this is a better film than its predecessor. It is more lovingly-crafted, less fantastic in the literal sense and more sharply observed. Watch it for what it is - a modern take on the old Mary Poppins story - and you won't be disappointed.