Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again

"The best things in life, the very best things happen unexpectedly."

Five years after her almost-wedding, Sophie Sheridan (Seyfried) is preparing for the grand re-opening of her mother's inn.  Her mother, Donna (Streep), died the year before and Sophie is dedicated to having a successful opening in her mother's honor.

As opening day approaches, Sophie reflects to young Donna's (James) journey to the island.  With help from Donna's best friends Tanya (Baranski) and Rosie (Walters) and her three dads, Sam (Brosnan), Bill (Skarsgaard), and Harry (Firth), can Sophie honor her mother's legacy?

Ten years after the success of 2008's Mamma Mia!, Universal Pictures reunited the cast for a sequel.  The film serves as both a sequel and prequel to the story of Mamma Mia.  The main story continues Sophie's journey, but it also features flashbacks to Donna's youth and how she ended up on the island.

Ol Parker served as the director and screenwriter.  He keeps the basics of Catherine Johnson's story, but makes some changes to the storyline and character backgrounds.  The story alternates between the present day with Sophie's journey, and young Donna's journey to the island.  Once again, all of the songs from the film were written by the band ABBA.  ABBA members Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson cameo in the film.  And some cast members from the original stage production of Mamma Mia appear in the "When I Kissed the Teacher" sequence, as teachers on the stage.

The present scenes focus on Amanda Seyfried's Sophie.  Seyfried has a beautiful voice, and sings most of the songs in the present.  She is joined by Dominic Cooper as her beau Sky.  He isn't in much of the film, but they have great chemistry when they are together.  Christine Baranski and Julie Walters are hilarious as Donna's friends Tanya and Rosie, and they get to sing a few songs with Seyfried.  Pierce Brosnan, Stella Skarsgaard, and Colin Firth return as Sophie's dads Sam, Bill, and Harry.  They don't get to do as much in this film, but they all sing in "Mamma Mia."  And despite the negative comments from the first film, Brosnan sings a couple lines on his own, and it works with the emotion of the scene.

Lily James steals the show as Young Donna.  She lights up the screen and has a beautiful voice.  She sings the majority of songs in the film, and sings with each of her suitors.  Hugh Skinner, who previously appeared in Les Miserables, plays Young Harry.  He gamely dives into the movie and hams it up with James in "Waterloo".  It is a fun song and it looks like they are having a blast.  Josh Dylan is the womanizing Young Bill.  He sings "Why Did It Have to Be Me" with James, which is my favorite duet in the film.  Jeremy Irvine is Young Sam and joins James on "Knowing Me, Knowing You."  Unlike the other duets, he sings with Donna at the end of their relationship, and it is a more serious song than the other suitors.  The suitors are all attraction men and have good chemistry with James, but they do not look much like their older counterparts.  Broadway vet Jessica Keenan Wynn is Young Tanya alongside Alexa Davies as Young Rosie.  They act the most like their older counterparts, and bring some of the humor to the scenes in the past.

Greek actor and singer Panos Mouzourakis plays Lazaros, who owns the bar where Young Donna sings, and sings "Kisses of Fire."  It is a funny scene, and he pops up a few more times in the film.  Comedian Omid Djalili is the Greek custom official and steals every scene he is in.  Stick around after the credits for a scene between him and Young Harry.  Cher and Andy Garcia are good in their roles, and Cher sings "Fernando."

The film ends with the cast, in character, singing "Super Trouper."  It is the only part of the movie where the entire cast appears together, and it looks like they are having a blast.  Cher, Seyfried, James, and Meryl Streep take the lead on the song, backed by the rest of the cast.  Seyfried, James, and Streep also sing the emotional "My Love, My Life" together.

I went to see this film with my mom and we had a good time.  We both preferred the first film, but agreed that it was an enjoyable film.  The film is emotional, especially as the present scenes deal with the groups shared grief over the loss of Donna.  But it still captures the joy from the original film.  We laughed, we cried, and we left with ABBA songs in our heads.

If you didn't like the original, or musicals in general, you probably won't enjoy this film.  If you are looking for a musical that doesn't involve much thought, but will have you dancing in your seat, then check it out!

Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (2018) 114 minutes
Rating: PG-13 for some suggestive material
Director: Ol Parker
Starring: Amanda Seyfried as Sophie Sheridan
Meryl Streep as Donna Sheridan
Lily James as Young Donna
Dominic Cooper as Sky
Christine Baranski as Tanya Chesham-Leigh
Jessica Keenan Wynn as Young Tanya
Julie Walters as Rosie Mulligan
Alexa Davies as Young Rosie
Pierce Brosnan as Sam Carmichael
Jeremy Irvine as Young Sam
Colin Firth as Harry Bright
Hugh Skinner as Young Harry
Stellan Skarsgard as Bill Anderson
Josh Dylan as Young Bill
Cher as Ruby
Andy Garcia as Fernando Cienfuegos