Review - Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again

When this film was first released, I honestly had little interest in seeing it. I've been trying to leave my filmic comfort zone and of course I love ABBA but I just don't like musicals and I hadn't even seen the original. One marathon courtesy of Mama Jordan later and here we are, reviewing what may well be the most joyous film of the year. In what is a sentence I didn't ever expect to write, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again is pretty much the Godfather Part 2 of musicals, in that the events take place both before and after the events of the first, the head of the family now dead and replaced by their child but shown as a younger self in flashbacks. To move away from vague comparisons and into the specifics, we rejoin Amanda Seyfried's character five years later as she's finally turning her mothers dream of creating a hotel into a reality. She tries to throw an opening party with all our favourite characters from the first film but meanwhile, Lily James plays a young Donna in the experiences that created the events of the original film. For some, it may sound a little complex but it's very easy to grasp and gives the film this nice, warm depth that the original lacked. Remember that, it'll become a theme of this review.

Just like in the first, it's the cast that really power the heart of the film. There's a little rule that you'll usually hear Mark Kermode preaching that the majority of films where it seems like the cast are having a great time are usually not particularly fun to watch. When your film is just about people singing, dancing and grinning wildly while they sing ABBA however, that rule kind of flies out the window because the greatest joy here is just feeling that pure delight gush off screen. Testament to that is the Dancing Queen number which I won't give the specifics of but just trust me, you won't stop smiling. Everyone from the original film does great, especially Amanda Seyfried who takes everything up a notch. Equally impressive is the new batch of cast members, both those playing old characters and those playing new ones. Cher is as completely extra as is demanded for and would steal the show were it not for an incredible Lily James, who I remember fondly from last years Baby Driver. Here, she gives emotion to moments that need it, sings better than anyone else in the cast and has a charisma that is truly undeniable, making everyone regardless of gender question if they want to be her or be with her. What this film confirms for me is that she needs to move away from the period dramas she's been doing for the last few years because between this and Baby Driver, she is proving to be a huge force to be reckoned with and I know I will be championing her for the immediate future.

This is usually the paragraph where I get deeper into analysing the film but that's tricky to do with this film and that's not me being pretentious. I don't know much about musicals and I don't particularly like them but any line of criticism is shut down by the film. Around the halfway point, a character says "Things just happen on this island. Don't think about it. Thinking about things too much will make you unhappy" and I have no rebuttal to that. Sure, I could say some of the singing is a bit ropey. Sure, I could say that plenty of the scenes have obvious green screen. Sure, I could say half a dozen things to criticise this film but this is not a film to think about. It is a film where you just need to sit back, relax and let it all wash over you. Even if you do want to think about it too much though, this is actually a much better made film than the first. Some people I know prefer the first film because it has the best songs but 1. The first one didn't have Knowing Me, Knowing You or The Name of the Game and 2. Every technical element experiences such a step up, it seems ridiculous to argue that this film isn't better made. Much as the first Mamma Mia is charming, it feels like exactly what it is which is a film adaptation of a stage musical. Being based on original material, Here We Go Again is able to pull off genuinely cinematic set pieces like the aforementioned Dancing Queen scene or more subtle scenes like the One Of Us scene, all in a way that makes you feel like you're watching a proper film. Maybe you shouldn't think about it too much but I don't think thinking about it will make you miserable.

I shouldn't do this. I'm about to give Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again its score and so much of my body is fighting it. I'm a fan of big serious films by David Fincher or David Lynch, I like the Mexican New Wave, I take my film tastes far too seriously. And yet... And yet I love it. It is such a pure, wholesome, lovable experience whose being has infected my soul, whose songs haunt my phone, whose joy may never leave me. Against my more cynical judgement, I have to give Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again an