It's fluff and pleasing fluff at that.
Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again
Grade: B
Director: Ol Parker (The Best Exotic Marigold hotel)
Screenplay: Parker
Cast: Lily James (Baby Driver), Amanda Seyfried (First Reformed)
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 1 hr 54 min
by John DeSando
If you know the basic plot covering both Mamma Mia!s, namely that young Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) is the daughter of deceased Donna (Meryl Streep), then you’ll wade through happily the many strands of flashbacks that are cut so swiftly you’ll wait for ABBA’s songs for relief. Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again gives back story aplenty with songs that even from the 70’s are still vibrant.
Consider “When I Kissed the Teacher” and “Andante, Andante” for just two melodic pop tunes fitting into another screen version of what started as a Broadway musical. Try to forget Pierce Brosnan singing “When all is said and done” in the first Momma Mia! In this one he’s mercifully given only a few lines to sing. Almost everyone else can carry a tune and dance nicely, thank you.
More astonishing is shoehorning “Waterloo” into a plot that wouldn’t seem compatible. But it is, and the number is visually splendid. Consider also their inserting over-the-top Cher as grandma from her arrival by copter, her platinum wig, and waxen face to her rendition of “Fernando” with a game Andy Garcia. Worth the price.
Of course with this mash up of Abba romantic songs and the burden of figuring out which actor is which version of an original character, you eventually done the 2 hours and are free to think of your own family tree, without the soap opera flourishes. Refurbishing Donna’s old house gives daughter and movie a reason to be excited.
The musical has an infectious spirit that percolates when the older characters are center stage. Something about Colin Firth and Meryl Streep, for just two examples, reminds me of the charisma a mature star can bring that younger, handsomer, hipper actors can’t achieve. No carping, however, can erase the beautiful Greek island background, ridiculously sloppy, romantic plot, and actors born to be showcased for their looks and for most, except Brosnan, their musical talent.
Summer’s bounty, no more or less.
John DeSando, a Los Angeles Press Club first-place winner for National Entertainment Journalism, hosts WCBE’s It’s Movie Time and co-hosts Cinema Classics. Contact him at JDeSando@Columbus.rr.com
