I loved the initial Mary Poppins film growing up and it remains something I enjoy. So, when I watched this one with my children recently, I had some reservations. There are countless ways a less skilled writer could have mishandled the material, particularly someone pushing a specific viewpoint. Fortunately, that didn't happen, and I ended up enjoying the movie quite a bit. Disney succeeded in preserving the feel of the original film; it genuinely felt like a classic Disney production from earlier times—before every easily upset person attempted to transform each movie into a platform for their personal beliefs. I especially appreciated the first portion of the film. It was full of songs, enchantment, and, personally, memories of my childhood. Besides the significant advancements in technology that allowed for more impressive magical sequences, it felt as though it could have been made right after the original. They really did a good job recreating that earlier atmosphere. Even when directly comparing the two, I’d still pick the first one as superior; it was more inventive and simply had a better quality to it. The plot is essentially a retelling of the original story. A fresher concept would have been preferable. Also, the movie seemed to lose some momentum in the second half compared to its beginning. I would have preferred to see more of Mary Poppins' signature charm and magic—like what we experienced earlier on—rather than mostly standard tropes. The way they defeated the antagonist also felt a bit anticlimactic. Despite those issues, I don’t think this sequel was bad overall.

Source on TMDB