How can I resist ya! Well I couldn’t, I went and watched it the first day it was released in New Zealand. I’m still in love with the first film, I’ve rewatched “Mamma Mia” multiple times. How could I not go and watch this one as soon as it had arrived. And I’ll tell you another thing, I wasn’t disappointed at all.
You really need to have seen the first film to be able to understand this one. For those who have not seen the first film (and you should if you haven’t) let me catch you up to speed. Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) has never known who her father is. She has spent most of her life on a colourful Greek Island with her mother Donna (Meryl Streep). Sophie is getting married and she wants her father to attend her wedding. Luckily, she comes across her mum’s old diary and finds out she has three possible fathers, Bill (Stellan Skarsgård), Sam (Pierce Brosnan) or Harry (Colin Firth). Low and behold, Sophie takes it upon herself to invite them all to the wedding without her mother knowing. The film then launches into a series of hilarious, loving and emotional events revealing Donna’s past with a lot of singing, dancing and all ending up with broken hearts. Donna finally confesses that she doesn’t actually know which one is her father. Sophie decides that she doesn’t need to know which one is actually her biological father and Bill, Sam and Harry decide they would be happy to have 1/3 of her as a daughter. Not to mention this is all being told through the songs of the hit 1970s band ABBA.
Like many sequels, “Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again!” picks up sort of where the last film leaves off. However, it’s about five years after the last film ended and the character of Donna has sadly died since. Again, it very much focuses on Sophie and her personal journey. This time she is trying to figure out whether she should stay and run the hotel in her mother’s honour or leave and build a new life with her partner Skye (Dominic Cooper). Most sequels tend to show progression by moving forward in the story however this film spends the majority of the time looking back into the past. We get to actually see a younger Donna (Lily James) and her travels, how she meet each of Sophie’s dads’ (Bill, Sam and Harry) which lead to her building a life in Greece with Sophie where she stayed until she died. It was so nice to see all the stories they spoke about in the first Mamma Mia film actually playing out in front of us. We get to see the decisions that Donna made but in turn still flashing forward to Sophie and the decisions she needs to make for her own life.
Of course, this is not going to be as good as the first Mamma Mia film but it was a hell of a sequel. We still get to hear all the ABBA classics throughout the film which is so much fun. Also the way this was edited is so good! It was perfectly timed so that the crossover was seamless when jumping from younger Donna back in the 70s to Sophie today. It really enhanced the relationship between the two characters in completely different eras. Because of the seamless editing, there were so many beautiful moments in the films. I laughed, I cried, I sang along. It works really well.
Of course it doesn’t hurt to have a few A list stars appear in the film. They bring Meryl Streep in at the end to do her part and they brought but all the originals (Stellan Skargard, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, Dominic Cooper, Amanda Seyfried, etc). You can’t leave out the two crazy aunts (Julie Walters and Cristine Baraski); who are back with their witty humour and knowledge on love, men and life. The biggest star they role in is Cher playing the role of Sophie’s grandmother. Unfortunately, I personally felt like it was a hit and miss. Cher played Cher not Sophie’s grandmother plus she seemed uncomfortable most of the time. However it was pretty spectacular to watch Cher singing ABBA hits. It was a match made in heaven!
I do have to give a special shout out to a new up-and-coming actor, Hugh Skinner. Being that half the film were flashbacks to a young Donna and her past, all the original characters had to have younger versions of themselves also. They were all very well done. There was no one that didn’t pull off their younger versions, however Hugh Skinner is particularly amazing playing a younger Harry as Colin Firth plays older Harry. His mannerisms and characteristics of Harry were so on point and I was rolling about with laughter throughout his performance in Waterloo.
Overall, this film is definitely worth a watch. If you liked ABBA, Mamma Mia or musicals in general then this is the film for you. With a bit of luck I reckon this will be a hit like the first film.
Check in next week for a new film review!!
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