Review of Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (2018) by Leon B — 31 Dec 2018

Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again.

(2018).

Plot:

Join the celebration, sing and dance, and discover how it all began! Ten years after Mamma Mia! The Movie, you're invited back to the magical Greek island of Kalokairi in an all-new musical sequel based on the songs of ABBA. Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) is now pregnant, and like her mother Donna (Meryl Streep), she'll need to take risks.

Review:

Now, I know that a lot of people are going to disagree with this movie review, but I can only be honest about my feeling towards this film. I'm not one for musicals, but I thought that I would give this sequel a chance, as there were some good moments in the first movie. With Meryl Streep out of the equation, I didn't have high hopes for this movie but once I heard that the rest of the cast was returning, along with Cher, I really thought that the director could pull it off. Personally, I couldn't stand the annoying singing throughout the film, which came with extremely jolly dancing scenes, and the storyline didn't help matters. I missed the funny jokes between the 3 dads, which made the first movie watchable, and the back and forth in time was a good idea, but badly executed. With that aside, it was one of the biggest movies in the UK in 2018 but I personally couldn't wait for it to end. Anyway, following the death of her mother a year earlier, Sophie Sheridan (Amanda Seyfried) is preparing for the grand opening of her mother, Donna (Meryl Streep) hotel. The movie then goes back in time to show a younger Donna in 1979, graduating from Oxford's New College with her close friends Rosie (Julie Walters) and Tanya (Christine Baranski). Donna then heads off to travel the world by herself, and she first stops in Paris, were she parties with a younger Harry (Hugh Skinner/Colin Firth). They spend the night together, but Donna leaves to catch her boat to Kalokairi, which she misses. Donna is then offered a ride from Bill (Josh Dylan/Stellan Skarsgard), not knowing that Harry was following behind her, but he sadly arrives too late and he watches the boat sailing off in the distance. It then switches back to the present day, were Rosie and Tanya join Sophie to support her during her hotel launch. Whilst preparing for the opening, a huge storm causes serious disruption to Sophie's plans and prevents media coverage of the event. Meanwhile, in their past, Donna arrives on the island and while exploring the farmhouse, a sudden storm causes her to discover a spooked horse in the basement. She goes in search of help only to find a young Sam (Jeremy Irvine/Pierce Brosnan) who helps her to save the horse. After spending time together, Donna discovers a picture of Sam's fiancée in his drawer, so she demands for him to leave the island and refuses to see him again. In the present, Sam explains to Sophie how much Donna meant to him, and how his decisions in the past still haunts him. Meanwhile, Harry and Bill decide to help Sophie with her launch, so they abandon there busy life's and they make there way to the island. They are told that there are no boats going to the island, but when Harry bumps into his old friend Alexio, he invites him and his friends to the launch, if they can take them to the island. Sophie's boyfriend, Sky (Dominic Cooper) also joins them on their mission to get to the grand opening, even though Sophie thinks that the whole event will be a disaster. Meanwhile, in the past, Donna discovers she is pregnant but has no idea which one of her three recent lovers is the father. The hotel owner, Sofia, overhears Donna's wish to stay on the island, and she happily accepts Sofia's offer to live in her farmhouse, where she eventually gives birth to Sophie. Back in the present, the guests have finally arrived at the grand opening, and Sophie is reunited with her two fathers and Sky. Sophie tells Sky that she is pregnant and has never felt closer to her mother, having now understood what she had gone through to have her. Sophie's estranged grandmother Ruby (Cher), arrives via helicopter, even though she didn't invite her. She reveals that Sky had tracked her down in New York and she wants to build a relationship with her, even though she hasn't been around for most of her life. Soon after that, it is revealed that the hotel manager Fernando (Andy Garcia) is Ruby's former lover from 1959 in Mexico, and the two are joyously reunited. After the birth of Sophie's son, named Donny, everybody burst into song, which includes the younger and older version of the characters. This is definitely a chick flick, which becomes more tedious as the movie goes along. I did find the scene where Meryl Streep is singing to her daughter, quite touching but apart from that, I lost interest near the beginning of the film. Pierce Brosnan's singing was really awful, and I wasn't that impressed with the dancing but that's not to say that people won't enjoy it. If your into ABBA songs, which I'm not, and are into people bursting into song every 5 minutes, which I'm not, then this movie is for you but I definitely won't be watching it a second time. On the plus side, the cinematography was great and I enjoyed the chemistry between the cast from the first movie but it just wasn't for me. Disappointing!

Round-Up:

This movie was written and directed by OI Parker, who also brought you Imagine Me & You in 2005 and Now Is Good in 2012. He also wrote The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, so he's not new to movies in this genre. It's a shame that the original director didn't return for the sequel because I much preferred her mixture of drama/comedy style, which worked so well in the first film. Anyway, for the budget, the director did well to get such a big cast, including Cher who must have cost half the budget, and the various location and huge dance numbers must have cost a pretty penny. Although this didn't tickle my fancy, I can see why people would be singing along through the dance numbers, whilst getting emotional during the dramatic scenes but I struggled to stay awake.

Budget: $75million.

Worldwide Gross: $394million.

Genre: Comedy, Musical, Romance.

Cast: Amanda Seyfried, Meryl Streep, Julie Walters, Christine Baranski, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, Stellan Skarsgard, Cher, Lily James, Andy Garcia, Dominic Cooper, Celia Imrie, Josh Dylan, Omid Djalili and Togo Igawa. 2/10.