Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again Review

PG-13: Some suggestive materialUniversal Pictures, Legendary Pictures, Playtone1 Hr and 54 MinutesWriter/Dir: Ol ParkerCast: Amanda Seyfried, Lily James, Meryl Streep, Dominic Cooper, Cher, Christine Baranski, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, Andy García, Stellan Skarsgård, Julie Walters, Jessica Keenan Wynn, Josh Dylan, Alexa Davies, Hugh Skinner, Jeremy IrvineI’m going to be honest: I hate the movie “Mamma Mia!”. I don’t have the song or the Broadway musical... just the movie. Four years ago, I saw the Broadway play and I had the time of my life (pun intended). To this day it is still the only Broadway show I’ve ever been to, and I’ve resided in NYC all of my life. Now, the movie is a different story. I rewatched it on Netflix on Monday morning 10 years after seeing it on HBO and it was a struggle. I got through it with the help of a cold one. “Mamma Mia!” felt more like a jukebox musical adaptation than a movie, for it was relentlessly bombarded with ABBA songs for its short running time, featured unnecessary musical numbers that derailed a consistent narrative, no characters had any development outside of Sofie, and a lot of the actors’ singing voices were hella pitchy. Thankfully, nobody was as pitchy as this guy:
NOW, a decade after the predecessor was released, we have “Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again”, a sequel that boldly states: “Hey! We killed off Meryl and made a better movie without her!”
Five years after the events of “Mamma Mia!”, on the Greek island of Kalokairi, Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) is running her mother Donna's (Meryl Streep) villa following Donna's death a year prior to the events of the film. Her relationship with Sky (Dominic Cooper) has been turbulent for some time, giving her cause to doubt that she can survive without her mother. With Tanya (Christine Baranski) and Rosie's (Julie Walters) guidance, Sophie will find out more of Donna's past, including how she fronted The Dynamos, started her villa on the island from nothing, met each one of Sophie's dads, Sam, Bill and Harry (Pierce Brosnan, Stellan Skarsgård, and Colin Firth), and raised a daughter, without a mother to guide her. She also has an unexpected visit from someone she has never even met: her estranged grandmother, Ruby Sheridan (Cher).THE GOODOne of the most impressive aspects that “Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again” has to offer is how writer/director Ol Parker managed to write a sequel off of no new material. The Broadway musical never had a sequel play so the fact that Parker managed to write a developed narrative based off of minor story elements from the predecessor based on entries in Donna’s diary and anecdotes from Sophie's dads is something worth noting.
Donna’s story is a silly ass romantic comedy; there are moments where the humor is comprised of random tropes that were popular in the 90s. Sofie’s storyline is a coming of age comedy, but when they’re stringed together, you have a joyous and sincere story about growth.As I said in my prologue, one of the biggest issues I had with the predecessor is the number of ABBA songs it would play rather than telling a narrative. That is primarily because the predecessor featured 24 songs, with a 108-minute running time, and they would play the entire song. Here, you have 18 songs on a 114-minute running time, and thankfully there is a huge difference in quality.1) They don’t play the entire song.
2) The singing voices are not so pitchy (well, the women's aren’t)3) The film has enough airtime in between each musical sequence to tell a narrative and allow characters to develop and grow. In an odd turn of events, the way the younger characters are portrayed in this elevates the lack of character in the predecessor.The casting for the young versions of all these actors are incredible. Not only do they all physically look like their counterparts, but they mimic their mannerisms perfectly. For a film that has such a large ensemble, this is primarily Lily James’ vehicle and by God she kills it. You know what? She doesn’t just kill it, she slays it.
Lily James’ performance isn’t selling out as a younger version of Meryl Streep, but the younger version of Donna Sheridan. She embodies Donna’s characteristics as portrayed on stage. She carries Donna’s carefree spirit and can-do attitude and bouncy energy and pulls off a better portrayal of the character than Meryl Streep, which says a lot. James manages to have chemistry with anyone she shares screen time with.THE BADIn the trailers, it was assumed that the story of Donna’s upbringing was going to be told through Tanya and Rosie who guide Sofie through her reopening of Donna’s hotel, but the way the film plays out for the first act is really poorly structured. It begins with Sophie on the island missing Sky and then it just parachutes into Donna graduating from college and that constant back and forth between Donna’s past and Sofie’s present keeps going.The transitions are forced where it feels like writer/director Ol Parker didn’t know wether to commit to Donna’s origin story or Sophie’s restart of the villa… until the second act when Donna gets to the island of Kalokairi where she starts her new life.
I was entirely hating the first thirty minutes of this movie, for all of the the gripes I had with the predecessor prevailed. In actuality, it is until Donna travels to Kalokairi that the film itself becomes significantly better. The transitions linking the past and present feel more organic and natural, the overall narrative becomes sincere and heartwarming, some of the randomness of Donna’s past plays into Sofie’s present, and the music is more upbeat and fun.After a while, my musical loving ass got swept up in the joyous fun everyone on screen was having. The dance choreography is amazing as the visual style got more expressive with its vibrancy.
The predecessor failed to imitate the heart and soul that made the Broadway musical it was based on so beloved . “Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again” perfectly captures the charismatic and lively essence of the musical where it embraces its silliness and makes every character loveable. Just like “Paddington 2”, “Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again” is nothing but pure joy that is infectious and impossible to not fall in love with. You’re so wrapped up in the positive fun when it comes to the first hour that by the time Cher comes in, it just becomes God tier.Just like the Streep herself, you’ll end up going:
THE RENDYHonestly, who knew that a sequel that had the absence of Meryl Streep made for a better film than one the movie that she was present in? It’s as if all of Streep’s skillful attributes are wrung out like a wet rag and poured into this movie, for it is an exceptional musical like the woman herself.Not going to lie, “Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again” gave me the same spirited fun I had watching the Broadway play it was based on four years ago. When I saw the play, I was singing in my seat, dancing in my chair, and (to reiterate) HAVING THE TIME OF MY LIFE; all of the things I did in the theater of the play, I did during this movie. And just like the play, it had me clamoring to watch it again.LAST STATEMENTMarginally exceeding its predecessor and embodying the spirit of the play it was based on, “Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again” is a Super Trooper of a sequel that is energetic, fun, and lively. It’s an irresistibly fun time that you won’t want let go of.Rating: 4/5 |88%Super Scene: DANCING QUEEN