MAMMA MIA! HERE WE GO AGAIN: A Bittersweet Ray Of Cinematic Sunshine

As a nine-year-old British girl in 2008 when Mamma Mia! came out, I was certainly swept up in the joyful hysteria. My friends and I would put it on repeat at sleepovers and talk over it, knowing every word of the script ourselves. It’s honestly rare that I feel as though I’m the core demographic for a big release like this, but Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again will undoubtedly delight and affect fans of the original, as it has me.

Premise

The sequel essentially just expands on plot points from the original: whilst Sophie deals with the reopening of her now-deceased mother’s hotel, we are treated to flashbacks of how Donna had Sophie in the first place back in the late ’70s. The narrative isn’t particularly meaty for the two-hour runtime, but I felt bored at no point during the movie, largely in part due to the numerous well-choreographed musical numbers and the leisurely pace that the romances play out in. Yes, they may feel rushed and unrealistic in terms of in-universe time, but Ol Parker’s script doesn’t hold back on creating genuine chemistry between Donna and each suitor before moving the plot forward.

Performances

As wonderful as Meryl Streep was in the original movie, Lily James does a fantastic job of making young Donna seem as captivating and free-spirited as the script demands, lending a believability to the notion that all of these men would fall madly in love with her simultaneously. Slow motion shots of James cartwheeling in the grass call the viewer to think of her as the most fabulous woman to have ever existed, in many ways the ultimate ‘manic pixie dream girl’ but at least from the pixie’s far more interesting perspective.

Amanda Seyfried returns as Sophie, but with a far more sombre feel to her character. There are no makeout scenes on the beach with her and partner Sky (played by Dominic Cooper) this time; she is clearly in pain, and Seyfried expertly conveys this, from the strained look on her face to the held back body language so different from the playful girl she was last time we checked in. On the other end of the spectrum, latest cast member Cher essentially plays herself, which effectively balances the sadness with a healthy amount of whimsy, particularly during her performance of Fernando.

The actresses who steal every scene they appear in, however, are the four who portray Donna’s best friends Tanya and Rosie. Christine Baranski and Jessica Keenan Wynn provide most of the laughs as the former, but Julie Walters and Alexa Davies often serve as a fantastic conduit for the audience; I was nodding in agreement when Walters noted that she would likely burst into tears every time Donna was mentioned.

Modern Showtunes

Though many of the songs left over for this soundtrack are less iconic than the likes of Gimme Gimme Gimme and Lay All Your Love On Me, they thankfully redid old favourites like Dancing Queen and Waterloo rather than delving too deep into the ABBA discography. The numbers seem to spring out of nowhere, but in a way that definitely adds to the outlandish, joyful nature of the film, and an early performance of When I Kissed The Teacher at Donna’s own university graduation wonderfully sets this tone. Regrettably, though, after energetic and meticulous choreography on Waterloo, the dancing rarely matches the energy and emotional heft of the singing.

As a sidenote, Pierce Brosnan, charming as he is, only sings a few bars in this movie, which can definitely be considered a positive.

An Aesthetic Of Sunshine

Certainly more bittersweet than the 2008 original, it seems that Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again was not entirely immune to being permeated by the dour mood of ten years on. But despite the bittersweet tone lacking in the feelgood original, or even because of this, the sequel feels like a more authentically emotional experience.

This doesn’t mean that the film is by any means a painful watch, however, as the vibrant colour palette of blues and yellows in everything from the setting to the costumes ensures that the island of Kalokairi feels like the paradise from the first. Even the editing and transitions are playful and designed to evoke a feeling of warmth, from idyllic landscapes that change into abstract paintings to characters from different time periods appearing in reflections in the present.

However, you can make the argument that the film is a little too blasé with the use of its main Greek setpiece. A Greek friend I went to see the film with found the characters native to the country rather shallow, and felt as though they should have been given more characterisation as opposed to just the English and American characters that stumbled upon the island and claimed it as their own. For me, this didn’t spoil the experience, but a greater level of representation for the Islanders as more than caricatures undoubtedly would have improved the movie.

Conclusion: Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again

At the screening I attended on the opening day here in the UK, I could see schoolkids mouthing along to the lyrics of the better-known songs, and staying once the credits had rolled to watch the bombastic final dance number. From this and from my own feelings on the film, I think and hope that Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again could certainly be as beloved as the first.

What do you think? Was Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again worth the wait? Or were you not waiting to start with? Let me know in the comments!

Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again was released in the UK and USA on July 20, 2018.