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For those who enjoyed the original “Mamma Mia!” from 2008, the sequel “Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again” is something special. Or not quite.
The sequel includes even more actors, runs for longer, includes more side plots, and includes even more love stories. But it’s even more empty than the first movie and features even lower stakes. It’s not as enjoyable, and for all its frantic movement, it goes absolutely nowhere.
Once again inspired by the music of ABBA, “Mamma Mia!” is set on a lovely Greek island, the second one features the lightest piece of Swedish pastry with the sweetest portion of baklava on the side. And although that may sound appetizing, it is likely to give you a toothache as well as a headache.
At one point during a particularly uncomfortable number, I noted down, “I am so uncomfortable right now.” While the silly imperfection of this song and dance overload is somewhat the point and in theory, charming, it can get tiring and dull surprisingly quickly.
Watching the wonderful Meryl Streep prance around in a barn wearing overalls and singing the title song in the original film brings me joy that no moment can match. As does the emotional depth encapsulated in the masterpiece that is “The Winner Takes It All” when Meryl Streep sings it to Pierce Brosnan. And while I’m aware many people take extreme delight in Streep’s playful, musical side, let’s get ready for disappointment, because it seems that she is absent from the film almost completely after making a few fleeting appearances in the film’s marketing.
It is revealed to us at the start of the film that Streep’s free-spirited Donna has passed away, but she still manages to make her presence felt in the room in soberingly powerful ways. Donna’s daughter Sophie, played by Amanda Seyfried, is reopening her mother’s inn, which has now been renamed the Hotel Bella Donna, on the same fictional and idyllic greek island of Kalokairi where the first film was set. With relevant experience writing the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel films, writer-director Ol Parker immediately begins jumping back and forth in time, starting with Sophie desperately trying to complete the final touches to the big party she has been tirelessly planning. The story further traces back Sophie’s mother to how she landed on this remote slab of land in the Aegean Sea, eventually leading her to become pregnant with Sophie in the late 1970s when she was still uncertain of who the father was.
Lily James embodies young Donna as a vibrant flower child with wild blonde curls and high-platform boots. (James’ sunny presence is one of the film’s consistent bright spots.) We meet her older friends, Thelma (Jessica Keenan Wynn, flawlessly impersonating Christine Baranski) who is also a jumpsuit-wearing back up singer, and Rosie (Alexa Davies filling in for Julie Walters). Donna randomly meets three guys after graduation and she is starstruck.
First, there’s the skittish Harry (Hugh Skinner) who attempts to seduce her in Paris with his broken French. Then comes the ruggedly handsome Bill the Swede (Josh Dylan) who picks up Donna from the boat. Lastly, there’s Sam (Jeremy Irvine) eagerly waiting for her at Kalokiri. He is an architect on vacation and started his holiday earlier than her. Their “adult” versions will be Colin Firth, Stellan Skarsgard, and Brosnan, who sadly have to endure singing ABBA songs.
Don’t forget the ABBA songs. They served as the sugary glue for the successful stage production and the film adaptation. The most dramatic features that are also relived from the first cutting are: a flotilla of fishermen dancing to the “Dancing Queen” and the show-stopping climax bringing the whole company on stage to sing “Super Trouper.” A lot of the soundtrack is filled with the more obscure features, and the dull manner in which those numbers are thematically and choreographically envisioned sets them far from greatness.
Still, these actors are so great that the little material they are given is put into great use. Baranski and Walters in particular are phenomenal together once again. The short glimpses of Firth, Skarsgard, and Brosnan who, for some unknown reason, are highly overqualified, but it looks like they get on so well while pretending to be Sophie’s dads made me crave seeing them together somewhere. Anywhere would do. A film showing them having a meal on the porch under the sunny sky of Greece would be perfect.
And just like that, Cher makes an entrance. With all of her draping glammed robes and bedazzled gowns, it would seem that this superstar goddess would ever be restrained, but as Sophie’s almost never around grandmother, Cher weirdly appears to be somewhat under control. Yet again, it’s the marvel of the choreography. She just stands there, with her eyes close, and sings `Fernando‘. Then she suddenly starts her very awkward walk down some stairs to the person she’s singing to. One of the most amusing parts of the movie is that Andy Garcia, who is playing the hotel’s caretaker, does so as a character called Fernando. Too convenient, isn’t it?
But for those who are ready to indulge in amazing summer pop songs being beautifully sung by A-list celebrities in breathtaking unparalleled sceneries, and are willing to throw themselves headfirst into the feeling of love’s ability to alter one’s life, bear in mind you need a mind boggling summer vacation, whatever that means to you, then wow, do I have something to make your day. The right answer is, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again: the movie you will thoroughly enjoy. Always remember to refrain from using your mind and pass the ouzo instead.
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