Film review: Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang

Writer/producer/star Emma Thompson resurrects the titular, magic-practising child-carer of her 2005 Mary Poppins-riffing hit for yet more old-fashioned, family-centric fun in this slightly improved sequel. This time out, the snaggle-toothed, bulbous-nosed Nanny McPhee (Thompson) arrives uninvited in the chaotic wartime household of harried young mother Isabel Green (Maggie Gyllenhaal), who is struggling to cope now that her beloved husband (a non-speaking cameo from Ewan McGregor) is off fighting in Europe. With three unruly kids to raise, a farm to run, a devious brother-in-law (Rhys Ifans) to contend with and her posh niece and nephew newly evacuated from London, she's certainly in need of help. Luckily for her, the hideous-looking governess's stern life-lesson-imparting ways soon have Isabel's warring kids learning the value of teamwork, compassion and standing up for one another via of some magic-enhanced set-pieces involving synchronised swimming piglets, flying motorbikes and anachronistic Pink Floyd references. Generation Kill director Susanna White (talk about a change of focus) handles the lurches from silliness to heartfelt sentiment with a sure touch, though the relentless golly-gosh chipperness and clunky plot grate by the end.