Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again

Greetings again from the darkness. It's been 10 years since director Phyllida Lloyd presented the crowd-pleasing MAMMA MIA! movie. It was a box office hit (over $600 million worldwide) and was, for a few years, the highest grossing musical of all-time. Most importantly, it was extremely entertaining and a joyous cinematic romp for viewers. This year's sequel is directed by Ol Parker (THE BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL and husband to actress Thandie Newton), and though the melancholy is slathered on a bit too thick, it also fulfills its number one priority - entertaining the fans.

The story begins with Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) putting the final touches on the house-turned-hotel in preparation for the upcoming Grand Opening. It's named Hotel Bella Donna in honor of Sophie's mother (Meryl Streep). What looks to be a straight-forward story surprises us with a flashback to Donna's 1979 graduation, which features not only the first song-and-dance number "When I Kissed the Teacher", but also the first of two ABBA cameos ... Bjorn Ulvaeus as a professor. The young Donna is played brilliantly by Lily James, and she effortlessly captures the free-spiritedness that led to the conundrum of the first movie - 3 possible dads for Sophie.

Those 3 dads return not only as Pierce Brosnan (Sam), Stellan Skarsgard (Bill), and Colin Firth (Harry), but also as Jeremy Irvine (young Sam), Josh Dylan (young Bill), and Hugh Skinner (young Harry). In fact, most of the run time is dedicated to the backstory of these characters and how they first met as youngsters. Each has a segment (and song) with young Harry featured in "Waterloo" accompanied by Benny Andersson (ABBA cameo #2) on piano. Young Bill is the charming sailor who saves the day for Donna, while young Sam assists her with saving a storm-shaken horse (kind of humorous since Mr. Irvine starred in WAR HORSE).

Also back are Dominic Cooper as Sky, Sophie's true love, who can't decide between romance and career, and Donna's life-long friends Tanya (Christine Baranski) and Rosie (Julie Walters), who are also part of the flashback as Jessica Keenan Wynn (excellent as young Tanya) and Alexa Davies (as young Rosie). New to the cast are Celia Imrie in the graduation number, Andy Garcia as the hotel manager, and drawing the biggest applause of all ... Cher as Sophie's grandmother (and as my viewing partner commented, an early peek at what Lady Gaga will look like as a grandma)! It's best if you experience Cher for yourself, and it should be noted that this is her first big screen appearance since BURLESQUE in 2010.

Of course, the songs are key and many of the ABBA numbers from the first movie are featured again this time. In particular, "Dancing Queen" is a nautical standout, and "Fernando" is a show-stopper. While it may not be quite as raucous as the first, it's a treat watching Lily James, and there is a wonderful blending of "old" and "new" in the finale. The only real question remaining is, did the casting director do the math before casting Cher (age 72) as Meryl Streep's (age 69) mother?

Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again fails to bring anything new to the table. It is made purely based on the success of the first film. Hollywood tend to do that a lot. When a film becomes successful, they make a 2nd film out of it, which lacks pretty much everything. First of all, if you want to go to see this film because Meryl Streep is in, don't bother, because she has a scene of 5 minutes in the end. She just sings two songs and that's pretty much it. She is in the front row of the film poster, she is the main image of the final trailer, because production company uses her image to attract audience. These kinds of tricks can be seen a lot, while advertising substandard quality films. Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again has one purpose, and that is to make more money by using the fame of the first film. I failed to understand why they even bothered making a sequel when everything was wrapped beautifully in the first film. Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again is written and directed by Ol Parker. I said written, but I really don't know what he has exactly written, because in the means of story there is nothing.

The people in this film are like from a different planet. They live in a parallel universe or something. There is no one ugly in the film. Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again is all about beautiful people, their artificially created problems, fake tears, sadness and meaningless joy. They are all very successful, their secret bonds don't have a resource. We don't know why those characters love each other so much, but they do. The film takes place five years after the previous events. Donna is dead. Sophie (Amada Seyfried) takes over the hotel and builds it from zero. While they prepare for the grand opening, we go back to 1979, where everything starts for Donna. She is claimed to be a free soul and an independent woman, but someone must tell the writer of this character that having one night stands with handsome men on your way to Greek Island is not independence. Young Donna (Lily James) is presented to be a very different girl, but when you watch her behaviors, she is pretty much superficial. She falls in love with a man, gets depressed after he leaves, and in the very same day, she has sex with a different guy because she is very sad. Sophie and her problems regarding the hotel in the present day are told in parallel with Donna's youth and her story, how she met Sam (Pierce Brosnan), Harry (Colin Firth) and Bill, (Stellan Skargard) how she moved to the island of Kalokairi and how she built the hotel.

Young Donna's friends Tanya and Rosie, as well as her lovers, Harry, Bill and Sam, are played by actors and actresses who have nothing to do with the actual characters. They all look very different. The story takes place in a Greek island but the film was shot in Croatia and Shepperton Studios in Surrey England. Set up of the sequel is pretty much similar with the first film. There is a song for every situation. The story was created based on the situations in those songs, and there is a song for every character, problem and situation. That's the reason why I said there is no story. It is time for a sad song, a sad situation is created. It is time for a joyful song, and something happy happens. There are very few scenes that can be compared with real life situations. Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again is a complete waste of money and time. I had a good taste in my mouth after the first film, but now that is all gone thanks to this useless film that was made just because of financial matters.

The strongest point of the film is its songs. It is satisfying in the means of music. You get to hear songs mostly from ABBA, as usual, and Arrival. After all, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again is also a musical, but even so, some songs are really bad for my taste. When I Kissed the Teacher from Arrival is one, for an example. Just to be able to sing this song, they created a graduation scene. This is what I meant when I said, circumstances are created based on the songs in the film. I have never seen such a thing in my life. I haven't seen an acting performance worth mentioning. This film was released on July 16, 2018 in Hammersmith Apollo and on July 20, 2018 in the United Kingdom and United States. It has 114 minutes of runtime and made with a budget of $75 Million. With a forced story and meaningless characters, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again is a film that I will never watch again. Having actors and actresses in the film just because they look beautiful shouldn't be a criteria while choosing your characters. This sequel is so hopeless that even the presence of Andy Garcia and Cher couldn't save it.

This sequel takes place a year after the death of Donna. Her daughter Sophie plans to reopen her mother's hotel, on a Greek island, unfortunately it looks as if neither her three fathers nor her husband will be able to attend the opening party. Intertwined with scenes of her preparing for the reopening we see how her mother came to the island all those years ago... and how she encountered the three men who are Sophie's fathers. Of course at every possible opportunity the cast sing an appropriate ABBA song.

If you didn't enjoy 'Mamma Mia' you certainly won't enjoy this as it is more of the same; this of course means if you did enjoy the first you are likely to enjoy this too. The story is fairly simple but it is fun; especially the flashback scenes of Donna making her way to the island and meeting the younger versions of the 'three fathers' for the first time. The songs are fun even if things are stretched a bit to justify the inclusion of some well-known songs... particularly 'Fernando'. Of course the songs are a lot of fun, even the less well-known ones. The cast does a fine job and are clearly having fun; Lily James stands out as the young Donna. The setting, with its beautiful settings and mostly fine weather, only add to the pleasure provided by the film. Overall I'd say this won't be for everybody but it is good cheesy fun if you enjoy that sort of thing... and I did, more than I expected.

In a world that has gone crazy, it was so nice just to sit back for 114 minutes and forget about real life. Transport yourself back to a simpler time and of course to the wonderful music of ABBA. Throughout the movie you go through all the emotions yet once it had finished you just want to sit there and wish you could do it all again The whole cast looked like they had as much fun making it as we did watching it. Everyone did their bit although Lily James was outstanding as the young Donna. It's one of those rare films as you leave your seat and enter the real world you do so with the biggest smiles of your face.

I'm at a loss why there are so many poor reviews of this film. But everyone is entitled to their own opinion. I loved it from the start. Lily James was outstanding as young Donna. Yes it was a shame Meryl Streep didn't play a bigger part but such is life. Take it for what it is. There were a couple of songs i didn't know so it may have been better keeping to the well known songs, however they did fit in with the script. It was a rollercoaster or emotions. Laughing and crying in equal measure. Julie Walters was as fabulous as always too. I loved it and will be watching it again as soon as i can.