She has marital problems with Sky (Dominic Cooper), a deadbeat Grandma (Cher dammit!) who has never supported her granddaughter, and.oh God.who cares? Nothing quite sticks when it comes to plot, as every scene shoehorns in another ABBA song, and that's really what we came to see, right? Strangely, what story their is, intercut between the two timelines, is so slight yet somehow resonates on its themes of family, friends, and the importance of honoring the dead. In the modern day timeline, Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) mourns the loss of her mother as she prepares to reopen their newly remodeled hotel in her honor. Her storyline, hinted at in the first but fleshed out here, shows us how she met and bedded the three possible men who would become Sophie's father.
It's impossible to take your eyes off her in this film.
#Mamma mia here we go again real or fake 4k driver#
James has the Pop Goddess moves down pat and sings quite sweetly, a nice surprise after competent but hardly star-making roles in BABY DRIVER and DARKEST HOUR). It kicks the film into high gear as we watch Young 1979 Donna, the Meryl Streep character from the first, (a fun, engaging performance by Lily James) graduate from school along with her besties, Young Tanya and Young Rosie (Jessica Keenan Wynn and Alexa Davies respectively), who are incredibly well-cast as the younger versions of Christine Baranski and Julie Walters.
One exception is "When I Kissed The Teacher", the first number in the film. It's an odd choice, but sometimes the songs hit emotionally. Yes, it's terrible, but if your response to that is "So what? I wanna hear me some more ABBA songs and watch Cher, dammit!", then by all means, you're gonna have a blast.ĭespite repeating some of their better known songs, this film, for the most part, dives deeper into their catalogue, filling the soundtrack with a lot of the band's sappier ballads and B-sides instead of some barn burners like "On And On And On" and "The Visitors". With MAMMA MIA! HERE WE GO AGAIN, we have a prequel and a sequel all in one (Not since Godfather II?!!), a different director (Ol Parker), and a giant cast who, for the most part, seem to be really into it. Lesson One: If you're gonna make a dumpster fire, go big or go back to Sweden. Two failed marriages! Stockholm winters! Massive success! Phonetically pronounced English! Instead, we got a lame story of "Who's Your Daddy" on a way-too-sunny Greek island.Ĭut to ten years later, and somehow I like to think everyone involved learned a thing or two. For some reason, I was hoping for a jukebox musical about the band. It was aggressively stupid, borderline unwatchable, but those songs made it a guilty pleasure. Not only was the camera NEVER in the right place, the actors ran and sang, they jumped, they waved their arms while doing karaoke versions of the classics. The film version, execrably directed by the helmer of the play, was even worse. So consider my excitement when MAMMA MIA hit the Broadway stage, followed immediately by my disappointment in what I called, "The Musical They Forgot To Choreograph". The last time they played Los Angeles, I skipped the concert for no good reason, thinking I would catch them next time. I've always worshipped that Swedish hit machine, clamoring for each album, marveling at the European chord progressions, the indelible harmonies, and their power pop classics. B-SIDES THE POINT - My Review of MAMMA MIA! HERE WE GO AGAIN (3 Stars)
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