Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again (2018) - Review

*SPOILERS BELOW*

Here we go again. Did we need this sequel? No. Am I glad we got it? Mamma mia!

In Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again, Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) has restored the Greek seaside hotel following the passing of her mother Donna (Meryl Streep). As Sophie prepares for the grand opening, the film flashes back to young Donna (Lily James), who travels to Greece and meets who would become Sophie's 3 fathers, Harry (Hugh Skinner), Bill (Josh Dylan) and Sam (Jeremy Irvine).

Despite my misgivings going in, it is hard to deny that Mamma Mia 2 is a damn good time. About a quarter of the way in, I was worried. The plot was derivative and the songs weren't fitting as well into the story as they did in the first film. However, I was pleased that once this movie got going, it kept trending upwards and surpassed the original.

That has everything to do with the cast. For the originals, Amanda Seyfried turns in the best performance of the entire cast. Given more to do in this film, she is incredibly sincere and honest. Sophie is very likeable, and it was nice to see Seyfried utilize her range more than she was able to in the first film. Christine Baranski and Julie Walters are hysterical as Donna's friends Rosie and Tanya. Dominic Cooper and Pierce Brosnan are given less screen time (and no solo numbers, thankfully), but they are fine in their limited roles. Stellan Skarsgard and Colin Firth as Bill and Harry are given some of the best laugh moments in the flick, and they land them with the prowess from the 75 years of experience between them.

The new cast are no slouches either. Lily James is gorgeous and sweet as the young Donna. This movie will make you fall in love with if you aren't already. After her performance in last year's Baby Driver and now here, she is an actress to watch. Jessica Keenan Wynn and Alexa Davies have good chemistry as the young Rosie and Tanya. Skinner, Dylan and Irvine are the weaker links in the new cast, given pretty one note characters with no real meat to work with. Skinner's Harry is the funny love interest, Dylan's Bill is the sexy love interest, and Irvine's Sam is the practical love interest who gets away. Being fairly inexperienced actors, I cannot really blame them for getting lost among the a-list crew compiled here. Finally, Cher, yes Cher, is in the film briefly as Donna's mother Ruby, but man does she steal the scenes she is in. It's a shame we don't get more Cher on-screen these days, her comedic timing is impeccable.

While I felt the first Mamma Mia was too frontloaded and slogged in the middle, it's the complete opposite in this film. Here We Go Again starts slow, but by the end of the second act I was tapping my foot to the favourites and smiling wide. It seems as if writer/director Ol Parker was conscious of the weak points in the previous film, and set out to correct as many as he could. The editing is tighter, helping the musical numbers ensure they don't overstay their welcome. What I really want to praise Parker for is his terrific direction during 2 key scenes. The first sees Sky and Sophie singing a duet in separate rooms. Parker uses slick transitions when the camera moves around a wall to give the illusion that they are together physically, illustrating that while they are in different places, their hearts are in the same place. The other scene is during the finale. As Sophie is christening her new baby, she imagines Donna there to witness it, and they embrace and sing a duet. Parker lets the camera linger, and the emotion that comes through on Seyfried's and Meryl Streep's faces are powerful. The last shot of Donna leaving the church, closing the doors as white light embraces is an eerie yet loving image. These 2 scenes brought levels of nuance that I did not expect from this film, and it's scenes like those that bring this ahead of the original for me.

The cinematography improved as well over the last movie. Robert Yeoman was behind the camera this time, and his approach to shooting the hotel especially created much more space on screen than there was last time. While the original felt cramped, this feels like more of an open space, which allows the visuals to be seen more fully. It also allows for more extras to be seen better during large numbers. One shot I really loved was of 4 or 5 ships, all lined with dancers, heading towards the island. The camera sweeps overhead, "Dancing Queen" starts playing, and an iconic musical shot is made.

The movie has issues. It's slow in the beginning, and the plot is not the strongest. With that said however, Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again made so many substantial improvements over the original, that I would recommend seeing it regardless of your background. Never watched the first one? Never heard an ABBA song? Doesn't matter. Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again is fun enough that by the end you'll be singing, dancing and having fun along with the cast and the audience. FULL PRICE!