Spoilers ahead.

I’ll admit, I adored the first Mamma Mia, it was fun, eccentric, and just an enjoyable watch. Ten years on and now watching the new movie as an adult with different, new eyes, was this as good? I mean, yes and no.

Let’s break this down. Right, part of the movie is present day with Sophie and Sam and dead Donna and how Sophie is trying to keep the hotel great for her mum. The other half of the movie is Donna getting pregnant with Sophie and seeing her with all the lads back in the 70s. Honestly, I found the present day stuff, apart from the bit with Cher, very wooden. There didn’t seem to be much emotion there and the storyline was kind of naff. The flashback bits though? Holy-moly I adored them! Lily James was ridiculous and you could tell she truly enjoyed the movie and what she was doing. There was brilliant character development and having the three storylines with the lads meant it didn’t get boring quickly. Her friends as well, Rosie and Tanya, were brilliant and young Tanya was a perfect fit for old Tanya (although does someone really keep the same hair style for decades?)

With the songs, of course there would be some repetitiveness, but I feel they fit with the story well and it wasn’t too annoying. Of course Dancing Queen was going to be featured but it did feel fresh and different to the original movie. I also felt the songs here were very fitting to what was going on, on screen and made more sense. I mean I didn’t truly get why Donna sang The Winner Takes it All before Sophie’s wedding. It didn’t fit as well as I bet the director hoped.

The casting for the young lads was really good and honestly they were all attractive in their own right. Some of the lines were a bit on the nose and the scenarios were a bit far fetched but at the end of the day it is a movie and not real life. I must say, the Skarsgard family are definitely taking over though aren’t they?

And finally, the moment that did nearly make me shed a tear was at the end, it was lovely and simple and very heartfelt and I am glad that in some ways Meryl Streep was a part of this movie as she is fantastic and has such a good energy.

This is definitely a movie I’d watch again but probably mostly with friends and not alone. It has also introduced me to new ABBA songs I previously didn’t know of, which is never a bad thing really is it?

But out of the three lads I would’ve definitely picked Sam.

Who would you have picked?

Until next time.

Published by shonaharding

Media graduate with a passion for reviewing film and TV. View all posts by shonaharding