| Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang | |
| Director: | Susanna White |
| Producer: | Tim Bevan Eric Fellner Lindsay Doran |
| Music: | James Newton Howard |
| Cinematography: | Mike Eley |
| Editing: | Sim Evan-Jones |
| Distributor: | Universal Pictures (North America and International) StudioCanal (France) |
| Runtime: | 109 minutes[1] |
| Country: | United Kingdom United States France |
| Language: | English |
| Budget: | $35 million[2] |
| Gross: | $93.2 million |
Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang (released in the United States and Canada as Nanny McPhee Returns) is a 2010 period fantasy comedy film directed by Susanna White, produced by Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner and Lindsay Doran with music by James Newton Howard and co-produced by StudioCanal, Relativity Media, Working Title Films and Three Strange Angels. It is a sequel to the 2005 film Nanny McPhee. It was written by Emma Thompson, based on Christianna Brand's Nurse Matilda books. Thompson reprises her role as Nanny McPhee, and the film also stars Maggie Gyllenhaal, Ralph Fiennes, Rhys Ifans, Ewan McGregor, Asa Butterfield and Maggie Smith.[3] The film was theatrically released on 20 August 2010 by Universal Pictures.
The film received positive reviews from critics and it earned $93.2 million on a $35 million budget. It also received a Young Artist Award nomination for Best Performance in a Feature Film. The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray in the UK on 19 June 2010.
Isabel Green is driven to her wit's end by her hectic life while her husband Rory fights in World War II. Between trying to keep the family farm up and running and her job in the village shop, run by the slightly mad Mrs. Docherty, she also has three boisterous children to look after: Norman, Megsie and Vincent.
When Isabel's children's two wealthy but pompous and snobby city cousins, Cyril and Celia, are evacuated to live with them in the countryside, they start fighting with them, only adding to Isabel's problems. So, the magical Nanny McPhee arrives to help.
The children at first do not listen and carry on fighting, which Nanny McPhee soon puts a stop to with her magic. Meanwhile, Isabel's brother-in-law Phil has gambled away his half of the farm, and is being chased by two hired female assassins working for casino owner Mrs. Biggles.
Phil desperately attempts to make Isabel sell her half of the farm, using mean and spiteful schemes to leave her no choice. One of them, setting loose the litter of piglets to be sold to a neighbouring farmer, is discovered by the children, leading them to bond as they work together to fix it.
Isabel takes everyone on a picnic as a show of thanks, during which Mrs. Docherty's ARP Warden husband warns them about bombs and relates how he imagines a pilot might accidentally release one, and Phil subsequently delivers a telegram saying Rory was killed in action.
Everyone believes the news except Norman, who is sure his father is alive because he "can feel it in [his] bones". He tells this to Cyril, who at first thinks he is just upset, but then agrees that Norman might be right. They then convince Nanny McPhee to take them to the War Office in London, where Cyril and Celia's father Lord Gray holds an important position, believing he will know the truth.
At first Lord Gray sneers at Norman's disbelief at his father's death, but after Cyril reveals that he knows he is divorcing their mother and blasts him for his neglect as a parent, Lord Gray investigates what has happened. While he is gone, Norman asks Cyril where he will live following the divorce; upon learning Cyril rarely sees either of his parents, Norman says that he and Celia are welcome to live permanently with the Greens.
Lord Gray returns and tells Norman that his father is merely missing in action, and that there is no record of a telegram being sent to his mother. After the boys leave, Norman deduces that Phil forged it.
While the older boys are at the War Office, Megsie, Celia and Vincent try to stop Isabel from signing Phil's papers and selling the farm by creating distractions, such as pretending that a mouse was in the kitchen. Just as she is about to finally do so, a German pilot accidentally drops a huge bomb on the Greens' barley field; it does not explode, but the fallout is strong enough to cover Phil's papers with ink.
When Nanny McPhee, Norman and Cyril return, Phil admits to Norman's accusation of forgery and is handcuffed to the stove by Isabel. The children go out to watch Mr. Docherty defuse the bomb, but when he faints, Megsie takes over, succeeding with the help of the other children and Nanny McPhee's jackdaw friend Mr. Edelweiss.
Nanny McPhee helps to harvest the barley with a little magic, saving Phil from Mrs. Biggles' hitwomen in the process. While everyone celebrates, Nanny McPhee begins to leave. Mrs. Docherty explains to the Greens how Nanny McPhee leaves when she is no longer needed, revealing herself as baby Agatha from the first film. Isabel and the children chase after her, only to see Rory, with an injured arm, making his way back to them. He runs to his family and they embrace.
In a mid-credits scene, Ellie, an elephant conjured by Nanny McPhee to share Vincent's bed, is seen enjoying the magically operated Scratch-o-matic invented for the piglets.
The village in the film is Hambleden in Buckinghamshire, the farm set and scenes were filmed in Hascombe, near Godalming in Surrey and the War Office scenes, both interior and exterior, were filmed at the University of London, and the motorbike scenes on various London roads.[4] Dunsfold Aerodrome, the location of Top Gear, name Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang as being filmed there, with more filming taking place at Shepperton Studios.[5]
Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang was theatrically released on 20 August 2010 by Universal Pictures (2 April 2010 in the UK).
The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray in the UK on 19 June 2010. Nanny McPhee Returns, as the film was renamed for the North American market for undisclosed reasons, was released on DVD and Blu-ray on 14 December 2010.
Emma Thomson wrote a novelization of the movie. Thomson narrated its audiobook and included a behind-the-scenes diary.[6] Thomson won the Audie Award for Narration by the Author and was nominated for an Audie Award for Middle Grade Title and a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for Children for her narration [7] [8]
Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes reports an approval rating of 76% based on 123 reviews, with an average rating of 6.5/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "Emma Thompson's second labor of love with the Nanny McPhee character actually improves on the first, delivering charming family fare with an excellent cast."[9] Metacritic calculated an average score of 52 out of 100 based on 25 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[10] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.[11] The Independent also gave a favourable review, with praise given to the actors and Thompson's script."[12]
In the UK, the film opened at number one, with £2,586,760,[13] outperforming new release The Blind Side, grossing a total of £16,211,057. In the United States and Canada, it debuted in seventh position with $8.4 million.[14] Gross exceeded $27 million.[15]
| Award | Category | Nominee | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IFMCA Award | Best Original Score for a Comedy Film and Film Composer of the Year | James Newton Howard for The Last Airbender, Love & Other Drugs, Salt, and The Tourist | ||
| National Movie Award | Best Family Movie | |||
| Silver Medal | Introductions and Lead-in titles | Paul Donnellon (Director) David Z. Obadiah (Producer) Andrew White (Designer) Noel Donnellon (Producer) VooDooDog | ||
| Young Artist Award | Best Performance in a Feature Film – Leading Young Actor | Eros Vlahos |
A third film, to be set in 21st-century England, was planned,[16] but the sequel did not meet studio expectations and plans for any future films were cancelled.[17]