What you should watch this weekend

Take two for a supercharged superhero family, a delightful Mary Poppins original sequel and an epic 150-minute chronicle of Beyonce’s landmark live set at the Coachella — here’s what to watch.

Take two for a supercharged superhero family, a delightful Mary Poppins original sequel and an epic 150-minute chronicle of Beyonce’s landmark live set at the Coachella — here’s what to watch.

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Emily Blunt stars as the lead character in the Mary Poppins sequel Mary Poppins Returns.

THE ONE WITH A SECOND SPOONFUL OF SUGAR

MARY POPPINS RETURNS (G)

****

GOOGLE, ITUNES

It is most important to note the delightful Mary Poppins Returns is an original sequel, and not some kind of second-hand remake. This refreshing new Poppins adventure is set 20 years after the events of the original film, which lands us somewhere near the Great Depression. Deducing her no-nonsense fixing skills are needed once more by the Banks family, Mary (charmingly played by Emily Blunt) descends from the skies and gets straight down to business. The production design is gorgeous here, never once going in for the visual overkill that blights so many modern movies. Same goes for the occasional blending of live-action with animation, and also a style of costuming and make-up that is gloriously simple and strikingly evocative of old-timey London. Oh, and in case you were wondering, each and every new musical composition stands up to lengthy scrutiny (and instant hummability) when measured against the immortal Mary Poppins songbook. Co-stars Colin Firth, Ben Whishaw, Emily Mortimer.

Your favourite super family are back in Incredibles 2.

THE ONE WHERE SUPERHEROES ARE NOT AVENGERS

INCREDIBLES 2 (PG)

****1/2

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This supercharged superhero sequel hits the ground running, hits the skies flying, and hits the audience with wave after wave of excitement, enjoyment and stirring storytelling. Events begin where the original 2003 classic concluded, with the Parr family still living on the wrong side of the law while saving the day as covert costumed crime fighters. However, just as it seems superheroes may soon be invited back in from the cold, a dangerous new techno-villain known as The Screenslaver starts turning up the heat. What more can be said? Everything is as excellent as it could and should be here, with the added bonus of a spectacular unveiling of baby Jack-Jack’s much-discussed secret superpower.

Beyonce in a scene from her documentary Homecoming: A Film by Beyonce. Picture: AP

THE ONE THAT SHOWS YOU THE BEY

HOMECOMING ... A FILM BY BEYONCE (PG)

****

NETFLIX

Come for the documentary, stay for the concert movie. That’s the takeaway from Homecoming, an epic 150-minute chronicle of Beyonce’s landmark live set at the Coachella Festival in 2018. Beyonce could have just shown up for her headline slot — twice postponed in 2016 and 2017 — and just crushed an adoring crowd with an avalanche of hits. Instead, she poured eight months of planning and rehearsals into a career-defining statement on her art, her life and her view of an America in an unprecedented state of political and cultural turmoil. The behind-the-scenes stuff is indeed fascinating, but no match for the revelatory experience of Beyonce’s performance itself, which lives up to everything you may have heard.

Britt Robertson and Asa Butterfield in a scene from The Space Between Us.

THE ONE WITH A LOVE OUT OF THIS WORLD

THE SPACE BETWEEN US (PG)

***

NETFLIX, STAN

Try this on for size for a long-distance romance: it ain’t easy going out with someone whose home address is Mars. Everyday teenage Earth girl Tulsa (Britt Robertson) has fallen hard for Gardner (Asa Butterfield), the Red Planet-based son of space colonists. After meeting on the internet, the pair inch towards meeting face-to-face. Gardner legs it down here, and as much as he digs his new girlfriend, he’s not such a fan of how things are on our planet. This middling YA drama (which includes Gary Oldman in a featured role) gets off to a fine start before later drifting into twee, heart-tugging territory. Some fine moments here though.

Mark Wahlberg at the Mile 22 premiere. Picture: Getty

THE ONE GOING HARD WHILE GOING THE DISTANCE

MILE 22 (MA15+)

***

GOOGLE, ITUNES, YOUTUBE MOVIES

The nicest thing you can say about this unashamedly ugly, ultra-violent thriller is that it does not want to play nice at all. Hardcore action fans who have had it up to here with middling escapist fare that pulls the very punches it should be throwing should book their tickets now. If you can handle the rough stuff, one thing is for certain you will not be bored for a nanosecond. The premise is standard-format race-against-time fare. A screw-loose US black-ops agent (Mark Wahlberg) has a handful of hours to deliver a package from one side of an unnamed Asian metropolis to the other. The package turns out to be a local cop (Indonesian martial-arts genius Iko Uwais) with a secret code in his memory and political asylum on his mind. If he gets to leave the country, he will spill the beans and save the world from some kind of nuclear calamity. The bone-breaking ballet danced by the punishing physical combat sequences are all that matter here, and quite rightly stick in the mind for some time afterwards.

Love, Simon.

THE ONE THAT TAKES A CHANCE AND TELLS A SECRET

LOVE, SIMON (M)

***1/2

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A very amiable adaptation of the bestseller by Becky Albertalli. While not a work that will change the world, Love, Simon will indeed mean the world to any viewers living through the same trials, tribulations and unnecessarily solitary soul-searching as its teen protagonist. Simon (Nick Robinson) is moving into his final year of high school with the support of a loving family, the camaraderie of a close-knit posse of friends, and the constant worry of living with what he calls “one huge-ass secret”. Not a person in his life is aware that Simon is gay. Coming out is something Simon mistakenly believes might be easier to deal with once he leaves his home town to attend college in another state. Co-stars Jennifer Garner, Josh Duhamel.

Ethan Hawke and Julianne Moore in Maggie's Plan.

THE ONE WHERE BREAKING UP IS HARD TO DO

MAGGIE’S PLAN (M)

***1/2

GOOGLE, ITUNES

An American rom-com blessed with sincere charm and subtle sophistication, factors which have been in short supply in Hollywood for a long time. Greta Gerwig is Maggie, a cosmopolitan college administrator who can good-naturedly scheme her way out of most tricky situations. So when she falls for a married man (Ethan Hawke) and later wants out, Maggie figures it would be a good idea to return her lover to his wife (Julianne Moore). This isn’t the only plan Maggie will be enacting during this vibrantly talky, oh-so-New-York-y affair (she’s also exploring ways to have a baby, sans a father) and there is real pleasure to be drawn from the way the movie conveys what is going on inside her unconventional mind.

Originally published as What you should watch this weekend