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'Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again' review: It's the sunny follow-up musical you deserve

Dig in the Dancing Queen once more. This time with Cher.

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Movie: Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again

Cast: Lilly James, Amanda Seyfried, Pierce Brosnan, Jeremy Irvine, Stellan Skarsgard, Josh Dylan, Colin Firth, Hugh Skinner, Christine Baranski, Jessica Keenan Wynn, Julie Walters, Alexa Davis, Dominic Cooper, Andy Garcia, Cher, and Meryl Streep.

Director: Ol Parker

Genre: Comedy, Musical

Duration: 1hr 54 min

Story: 

We meet Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) five years after the events of Mamma Mia we saw in 2008. This time, she is trying to figure how she will deal with her long-distance relationship with Sky (Dominic Cooper) while being pregnant with their child. She also needs to worry about what she wants to do with her mother's hotel. Most importantly, she learns who her mother really was when she met her three fathers.

It all involves music from ABBA, a generous dollop of sunshine, and various shades of island blue.

Review:

At its core, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again is an over the top musical -- a genre we Bollywood fans have always embraced and celebrated at every opportunity. But the thing that sets the movie apart from the rest is how the ABBA songs are woven into a story. So even if you see someone break into an impromptu dance routine, it's not out of the place. There are several nods to the previous movie which include the iconic overalls and the procession from the hotel to the jetty to the tune of 'Dancing Queen.'

Amanda Seyfried and Meryl Streep bring tears to your eyes when they share a frame towards the end of the movie. It's such a fitting way to close a few open chapters and lay groundwork for the new ones. But that is the extent of what Seyfried's Sophie can do in the movie. Something similar also happens to the rest of the old cast. They are the comfortable connect to the past of the story and the previous instalment. The time jumps and simultaneous storytelling makes it a prequel and a sequel at the same time. Rest of Ol Parker's movie delves into what happened during the summer when young Donna decided to live forever on that Greek island.

Lilly James is beautiful, cheery, happy as Donna. A stark contrast to Streep's older version that was worried about keeping her villa from crumbling apart. James' Donna sees opportunity in the shambles and possibility of a new world. She is young when we begin her story and by the end of it, something brilliant becomes of her. She most certainly comes across a few bumps on the road. Her meet-cutes with the three men -- young Harry (Hugh Skinner), young Bill (Josh Dylan), and young Sam (Jeremy Irvin) -- with exception of Harry, don't feel organic. And her break up with Sam isn't worthy of the dramatic exits of a Broadway show. 

When you see Christine Baranski and Julie Walters play Tanya and Rosie at the age they are, you don't want to go back to the mediocre performance of their younger versions. But what keeps you going through the time jumps, is the songs, the focus on sunshine and the distinctive blue of the Greek island. It's a sunny prequel everyone deserves.

It becomes too handsome to handle when Brosnan, Firth, Skarsgard, and Andy Garcia as the new manager Fernando Cienfuegos share the screen space. I mean talk of ageing like fine wine. Speaking of which, Goddess of Pop, Cher lights up the few scenes she is part of and boy you do not want to miss her rendition of Fernando. I bet my bottom dollar you will sing along.


Songs were the strength of Mamma Mia in 2008, they are doubly so now. So take two hours of your life to sing your heart out and watch beautiful people in sunny places. Escape.

Verdict: You get to have the 'time of your life' and 'be seventeen' one more time, so why not take it?

Critic's Ratings: 3.5/5

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