Review of Mamma Mia! (2008) by Dan L — 22 Aug 2017

A very simple movie about Amanda Seyfried trying to figure out who her father is between three men (played by Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth and Stellan Skarsgard) before her wedding, with some of ABBA's biggest hits worked into the plot.

There's not much of a story, but that's not the point of the movie. The point of the movie is the big musical numbers, with Hollywood actors showcasing their vocal range and singing talent. I could see myself enjoying this simplistic musical based on ABBA's biggest songs (even though I don't care for ABBA all that much) if the cast in this film could sing.

Amanda Seyfried and Meryl Streep are noticeably better than the rest of the cast, but they're also noticeably flat at times, especially Meryl Streep's performance of "The Winner Takes It All". The male cast members have more trouble hitting the right notes, as Colin Firth looked and sounded uncomfortable when he started singing, and Pierce Brosnan sounded like a horse. Or if any other farm animal comes to mind, Pierce Brosnan sounds like that too. His singing in the movie was so laughable, I could watch him sing "S.O.S." many times, as it makes me wish that this movie was campier.

Musical numbers are also awkwardly placed in the movie. During dialogues, characters would randomly start to sing, and some of the back-to-back musical numbers were grating and unpleasant to my ears. This movie is made for the fans of the musical, and while the movie can be fun at times, watching Hollywood actors do drunk karaoke isn't always a pleasant sight.