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I loved the original “Nanny McPhee” movie, so I was excited to find out that a second Nanny McPhee film was being released this summer.

I was even more excited when the folks at Positive Media invited me to a preview screening.

Emma Thompson returns as the mysterious Nanny McPhee. In this installment, she arrives at the door of a harried British mother Isabel Green, played by Maggie Gyllenhaal.

Isabel’s husband has gone off to fight in World War II, leaving Isabel with three squabbling children, a failing farm, and a scheming brother-in-law.

The first 20 minutes of the movie gets off to a bit of a slow start, but the story picks up as Nanny McPhee works her magic and the Green family faces down bankruptcy, snobby cousins, dancing piglets and even a bomb.

Usually when you see a sequel, the question is whether or not the second installment “lived up” to the original. There are no worries about that here: “Nanny McPhee Returns” is better than the original movie, truly!

Nanny McPhee Returns is rated PG. There is no objectionable language or any graphic violence, but there are some threats of violence and more intense themes dealt with in the movie, such as the death of a loved one. But don’t worry, there’s a happy ending. My opinion is that it’s appropriate for school-age children. I’m not sure it will hold the attention of toddlers or preschoolers.

Nanny McPhee Returns appeals to all ages, everyone from young children to their grandparents will enjoy watching it.

The movie opens this Friday, Aug. 20.