Starring Emma Thompson and Maggie Gyllenhaal. Rated G.

Like 2005’s Nanny McPhee, Nanny McPhee Returns is laced with a refreshing dose of common sense. Based on a series created by children’s writer Christianna Brand, the title character is a governess with magical powers. Her mission? Drop into the lives of desperate families and save the day. Set in a mildly surrealistic version of the 1940s, director Susanna White creates a look that’s heart-warming. But if you’re expecting Julie Andrews to breeze in with a spoonful of sugar, you’ve checked into the wrong fairytale.

As portrayed by Emma Thompson, Nanny McPhee has buck teeth, a mashed-in nose and moles the size of organically grown peas. When McPhee arrives at the doorstep of the harried Green family, she gets a mixed reception. The Green children (Oscar Steer, Asa Butterfield, and Lil Woods) are politely horrified. About the only thing they have in common with their snobby visiting cousins (Eros Vlahos and Rosie Taylor-Ritson) is an instant dislike for the dour nanny’s iron-fisted discipline.

Mrs. Green (Maggie Gyllenhaal, sporting a plumy British accent) has an altogether different reaction. As our story begins, she’s barely coping. Her husband (Ewan McGregor in a brief cameo) is off fighting in the war while her shady brother-in-law (Rhys Ifans) is pressuring her to sell the family farm. She tries to make ends meet with a job at the local general store. But she spends most of her time correcting the mistakes of her loopy boss (Maggie Smith).

It would be a crime to reveal what happens next. Let’s just say that Thompson—who also wrote the screenplay—knows what kids like. She’s not afraid to go old school here, fashioning a story that’s delightfully reminiscent of such classics as Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and The Railway Children. The results are nothing short of magical.