Review: Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! (on DVD)

Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again!
[DVD Mamma]

This 2018 sequel to 2008’s original film Mamma Mia, which itself was adapted from the “jukebox” stage musical which opened in 1999. This film reunites the entire cast from the first film, in a story that picks up years after the original. But, this film also features the added bonus of having huge flashback sequences to twenty years before the events of the first film as well. A cast of younger actors plays the memorable roles: Lily James (young Donna to Meryl Streep’s older Donna), Alexa Davies (young Rosie to Julie Walters’ older Rosie), Jessica Keenan Wynn (young Tanya to Christine Baranski’s older Tanya), Hugh Skinner (young Harry to Colin Firth’s older Harry), Josh Dylan (young Bill to Stellan Skarsgard’s older Bill) and Jeremy Irvine (young Sam to Pierce Brosnan’s older Sam). Amanda Seyfried and Dominic Cooper reprise their roles as Sophie, Donna’s daughter, and her partner Sky. And throw in new characters played by Andy Garcia and Cher, as Sophie’s grandmother Ruby.

The plot in a nutshell is that Donna (Meryl Streep) has passed, and her daughter Sophie has completely updated the little Greek island taverna her mother ran, into a modern retreat, and she’s planning a spectacular grand re-opening. But she’s also discovered she’s pregnant, and is having relationship issues with Sky, who’s gone to the big city to pursue his career. Sophie invites all her “three fathers” back to the island for the special event, and scenes inter-cut between the older versions of the characters reuniting, and the young versions of the three women just out of school and on the adventure that brought them to the Greek Isles — particularly the three flings the young Donna had with Bill, Harry and Sam, which lead to Sophie’s existence.

The younger actors were perfectly cast in their roles, and all sing incredibly well. The use of ABBA songs is terrific, and provides a great deal of energy and fun in all the singing sequences. The choreography in various dance sections is all uniformly excellent as well. People complained with the first film that Pierce Brosnan couldn’t sing, but he pulls off a marvelous solo in this film. Cher’s short appearance as Sophie’s grandmother (Meryl Streep’s mother!), is a little overblown, but allows for her to sing “Fernando”, which is a great moment in the film. There’s actually a lot of emotional resonance in this film, if you’ve grown to care about the characters, and a cathartic moment near the end of the film, to the song “My Love, My Life”, that is especially memorable. And, of course, the entire cast — both generations — gets to dance to “Super Trouper” in spangly outfits at the end of the film — a goofy highlight.

Personally, I loved this film. Your mileage may vary, depending on how much you like the music of ABBA and have a willingness to let characters break out into song-and-dance numbers at the drop of a hat.

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try the original first Mamma Mia film.] [Also available and worth recommending is the soundtrack album, featuring all the ABBA tracks as sung by the actors in the film.] [ Internet Movie Database entry for this film ] | [ official Mamma Mia movies web site ]

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewers recommendations!

Mamma Mia! (on DVD)

Mamma Mia!
[DVD Mamma]

I checked this 2008 film out on DVD to watch before attending a performance of the stage musical version at the Lincoln Community Playhouse here in town, just to remind myself of the plot — and had a blast watching it again. But, then, I’m a huge fan of the musical group ABBA, and their music infuses the film with a lot of its energy. It appears that most people have a “Love/Hate” relationship with this film/musical, usually tied into their appreciation of ABBA — I’ve run across very few people who are ambivalent about it. Personally, I love it — the huge cast of familiar movie stars — Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Christine Baranski, Colin Firth, Stellan Skarsgård, Amanda Seyfried and more, throw themselves into unexpectedly exuberant song and dance numbers in the midst of a bubbly and frothy soap-opera of a plot.

Both the movie and stage musical are what are known in the theater community as “Jukebox Musicals” — where a connective storyline is created to showcase a collection of an artist or group’s hit songs. Other shows in this genre from the 70s through the early 2000s would include Forever Plaid, Jersey Boys, Saturday Night Fever and Smokey Joe’s Cafe. In the past 10 years, this style of musical (both for film and stage) has exploded in popularity, with dozens of new shows/films making use of the format. Mamma Mia!, the 1998 stage musical, was one of the early ones.

Actors who you don’t normally expect to see singing do a remarkably good job, and seem to be having a huge amount of fun doing so. The story, in a nutshell — 20-year-old Sophie Sheridan is getting married in the Greek Isles, but was raised by a single mother who never told her who her father is. She wants to invite her father to give her away at her upcoming wedding, but in sneaking a read of her mom’s diary, she discovers her “Dad” could be one of three different men — Ben Carmichael, Bill Austin or Harry Bright. She invites them all to the wedding. When all three guys arrive on the remote Greek island where Sophie’s mom, Donna, owns and operates a taverna, the reunions aren’t necessary good experiences. Throw in Donna’s two old singing-group friends, Rosie and Tanya, and a bunch of the friendly locals, and you’ve got a festive atmosphere with lots of different emotions bubbling beneath the surface. Nearly every major character gets a moment to shine, both dramatically and musically. And around 20 ABBA hits get to take center stage in moving the plot forward — set in the late 90s, but featuring music from the late 70s. An emotional highlight is Donna confronting Ben musically with “The Winner Takes It All”. Other highlights are “Does Your Mother Know”, “Slipping Through My Fingers”, “Voulez-vous”, “Super Trouper”, “Dancing Queen” and the titular “Mamma Mia!” If you can accept the premise and the crazy casting, this is a terrific, feel-good film. If you can’t get past those initial obstacles, this is not the movie for you! [NOTE: The 2008 film was so successful that a sequel is coming out in the Summer of 2018, reuniting the entire original film’s cast!]

[ Internet Movie Database entry for this film ] | [ official Mamma Mia! Film Musical web site ]

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library

Have you watched this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewers recommendations!