Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again

If you loved the first “Mamma Mia!” movie, well, “Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again,” released in 2018, offers even more – and even less.

Christy Lemire said in her review,

“The sequel (which is also a prequel) features a bigger cast, a longer running time, extra subplots and additional romantic entanglements. But it’s emptier than its predecessor and has even lower stakes. It’s less entertaining, and for all its frantic energy, it manages to go absolutely nowhere.

Once again inspired by the music of ABBA and set on a picturesque Greek island, the second “Mamma Mia!” is the lightest piece of Swedish pastry with the sweetest chunk of baklava on the side. And while that may sound delicious, it’s likely to give you a toothache (as well as a headache).

At one point, during a particularly clunky musical number, I wrote in my notes: “I am so uncomfortable right now.” But while the goofy imperfection of this song-and-dance extravaganza is partially the point—and theoretically, a source of its charm—it also grows repetitive and wearying pretty quickly.”

Not one moment reaches the catching euphoria of Meryl Street twisting around in a barn in overalls singing the title song in the original film, or the emotional depth of her singing The Winner Takes It All to Pierce Brosnan. Along that area, if you’re looking forward to see Streep display her playful, musical side again, you’re going to be disappointed. Despite her noticeable presence in the movie’s marketing, she’s barely in the sequel.

That’s because Streep’s free-spirited Donna is gone, we learn at the beginning, but her presence is felt everywhere in sad ways. Her daughter, Sophie, reprised by Amanda Seyfried, is reopening the inn her mom ran – now named the Hotel Bella Donna – on the same peaceful (and fictional) Greek island of Kalokairi where the first film took place. Writer-director Ol Parker (whose other work includes writing the “Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” movies) goes back and forth in time between Sophie nervously finishing up her big party she’s planning and the story of how her mother originally ended up on this solitary island in the Aegean Sea – and became pregnant with Sophie in the late 1970s without being entirely sure who the father was.

Lemire said, “Lily James plays young Donna as a firecracker flower child—a friendly mess of wild, blonde curls and high, platform boots. (James’ sunny presence is one of the film’s consistent bright spots.)” We meet the younger version of her best friends and jumpsuit-wearing backup singers, Tanya (Jessica Keenan Wynn, doing a spot-on impression of Christine Baranski) and Rosie (Alexa Davies, filling in for Julie Walters). We see her flirt and fall for the three guys she has feelings for during the summer after college graduation.

First, there’s the nervous Harry, played by Hugh Skinner, who tries to charm her with his hesitant French in Paris. Then is the dashing Swede Bill, played by Josh Dylan, who charms her on the boat that carries her out to the island. Finally, there’s the aspiring architect Sam, played by Jeremy Irvine, who’s already vacationing on Kalokairi when she arrives. They will end up being played by Colin Firth, Stellan Skarsgard and Brosnan, respectively, and they will be forced into singing ABBA songs that clearly make them miserable.

Lemire pointed out, “Ah yes, the ABBA songs. They provided the confectionery connective tissue for the smash-hit stage musical and the original movie. This time, the ‘70s Swedish supergroup’s tunes that are the most rapturous are also replays from the first go-round: a flotilla of fishermen singing and prancing to “Dancing Queen,” or the splashy finale uniting the whole cast for “Super Trouper.”” A lot of the soundtrack has lesser-known songs, and the uninspired way those songs are staged and choreographed rarely allows them to shine.

Lemire noted, “Once again, though, these actors are such pros that they can’t help but make the most of their meager material. Baranski and Walters in particular have crackling chemistry again. The brief moments in which the supremely overqualified Firth, Skarsgard and Brosnan pal around with each other as Sophie’s three dads made me long to see them together in something else. Anything else. A documentary in which they have lunch on the porch under sunny Greek skies, even.”

Then Cher appears. That would seem impossible for this popular singer ever to be controlled. However, as Sophie’s frequently absent grandmother, Cher seems strangely ruled in. Again, it’s the strangeness of the choreography: She just somewhat stands there, singing Fernando, before firmly walking down some steps to greet the person who she’s singing. (As the hotel’s caretaker, Andy Garcia conveniently plays a character named Fernando, which is a funny part.)

Lemire ends her review by suggesting, “But if you’re down for watching A-list stars belt out insanely catchy, 40-year-old pop tunes in a shimmering setting, and you’re willing to throw yourself headlong into the idea of love’s transformative power, and you just need a mindless summer escape of your own, you might just thoroughly enjoy watching “Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again.” Don’t think, and pass the ouzo.”

I was surprised to hear that they made a sequel to “Mamma Mia!” That too, a decade later. What was so great about the first movie that they decided to make a sequel? The first one wasn’t all that great to begin with. The sequel doesn’t even try. I saw this on Netflix, I believe, while exercising and I didn’t like it at all. This is probably worse than the first movie. Guys, do yourself a favor and don’t see this film on Peacock, where it is currently streaming. If you saw the first one and didn’t like it, then avoid the sequel, especially if you’re an ABBA fan. Brosnan can’t sing at all and he embarrasses himself in this film by singing poorly.

Alright, we have come to the end of “Pierce Brosnan Month.” I’m sorry that most of the reviews were negative, but that’s how things are sometimes. Stay tuned next month for more excitement coming right at you.