MOVIE
Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again
Amanda Seyfried, Meryl Streep, Cher, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, Stellen Skarsgard.
Review Ray Chan
The film that first brought ABBA's songs to cinematic life, Mamma Mia! The Movie, was probably the most joyous offering of 2008.
It made a whopping $610 million at the box office and remains one of the UK's biggest hits on stage or screen.
Now, 10 years later, fans get the chance to see whether the magic can be repeated.
Written and directed by Ol Parker, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again is as much a prequel as it is a sequel to its predecessor.
Much like the first movie, it's apparent that the story has been contrived to fit around the vast array of songs in the ABBA catalogue. Sometimes they match, and at other times, the shoehorning seems a bit far-fetched.
The narrative flits constantly from the days when the free-spirited, younger Donna (Lily James) first moved to the Greek island where she built her dream hotel, to the present where her daughter Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) has taken over the mantle from her now-deceased mother.
She's refurbished the buildings, and to mark the grand opening, has invited Donna's besties Tanya and Rosie (Christine Baranski, Julie Walters) and her dads Sam, Bill, and Harry (Pierce Brosnan, Stellan Skarsgard, Colin Firth). The wannabe resort is now run by a mysterious, suave Latin gentleman (Andy Garcia), whose presence takes on a greater relevance later in the movie.
Parker periodically interrupts the hectic lead-up to the big day with flashbacks to the time Donna arrived on the island, and how she met Sophie’s paternal triumvirate (all played by younger actors, of course).
The screenplay, which Richard Curtis helped him develop, is a great mix of irascible jibes and waggish witticisms, balanced by musings on loneliness and loss, reflected in the lyrics of many of the songs.
Some of the funniest lines go to British stand-up comedian Omid Djalili, playing a customs officer who makes insensitive comments about the visitors whose passports he has to stamp. He also pops up at the end of the credits, so make sure you hang around to catch it.
It's interesting to note that of all the cast chosen to portray the younger generation, James bears the least resemblance to her respective older character; however, she has by far the best singing voice.
Sigfried and husband Sky (Dominic Cooper) definitely appear slightly more worse off for wear than when they appeared in the first movie, but then that only adds to the realism of the chronicle, set five years later. Ironically, the older set (Brosnan, Firth, and especially Baranski) look to have hardly aged.
The movie really starts to match the camp and rollicking fun of the 2008 film when Cher turns up (playing Sophie's grandmum), turning everything into a glammed and glittered karaoke party.
Indeed, the way the song Fernando is slotted in to the storyline is both ingenious and amusing, and Cher does an impressive, straightforward version of the classic.
And on that note, there's not much more one can say about the songs. Songwriters Ulvaeus and Andersson are a modern-day Rodgers and Hammerstein, having crafted many masterpieces that spanned the gamut from simple dance-along pop to compositions of sublime melodic and lyrical beauty.
Like in the first film, the pair show up in unexpected places in the story, though I would have screamed in delight had Agnetha and Frida also been granted cameos.
A couple of songs from the original movie are reprised here, including another flash mob sequence to Dancing Queen, but it's nice to see the inclusion of other pieces that didn't make it the first time round, such as Why Did It Have To Be Me; Angel Eyes; Andante, Andante; Knowing Me, Knowing You; and the glorious My Love, My Life, which wraps around the movie's most touching sequence involving Sophie and the older Donna (Meryl Streep).
Other ABBA songs are cleverly snuck in despite not featuring majorly, such as a Greek band singing Kisses Of Fire and Hole In Your Soul, Hasta Manana blaring out in a bar, and the refrain from Chiquitita used as a musical background.
Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again doesn’t pretend to be anything more than what it is: it doesn't aim to be an Oscar winner, and is happy to follow the silly, sweet, sun-splashed formula of the first instalment.
The choreography is glorious, from the crowd scenes down to clever homages to the ABBA “face” videos, and the feel-good factor is amped to max. Go with a mind to be entertained and you will not be disappointed.
Has the franchise met its Waterloo? Perhaps not. There are still many songs left in the repertoire to base a third part around, and success is guaranteed if the happy, singalong blueprint is adhered to. Surely Ring, Ring must be a contender.
@mammamiamovie
