I had many expectations when I walked into that Florida movie theater with my grandmother at my side. We had gone to the movies to see Mama Mia! Here We Go Again last Thursday night when it had first come out.
I had loved the first Mama Mia. It was funny, goofy, and had a pretty interesting storyline. I have also always had a special interest in musicals but these movies are different than the other musicals I had seen.
I never expected a second Mama Mia but when I heard about it I was thrilled. When I sat down to watch the movie I started to get pretty nervous. However, all those worries went away as soon as the movie started.
The movie starts with you finding out that Donna, Sophie's mother, is dead and Sophie is having a grand opening of her mother's hotel that she had fixed up. Donna's death was a complete shock to me by the way, although it makes perfect sense and adds a more sentimental note to the reminiscence of Donna's younger self.
Seeing the story of Donna and her three lovers was definitely the part I looked forward to most. You got to see the younger version of not just Donna but of Harry, Sam, and Bill as well as see how she met each one of them.
It was so great to see the humorous story from the first movie actually played out. Meeting the young "spontaneous" Harry was an absolute plus to the movie. One of my favorite parts of the entire film was when he sang Waterloo. It was a lively and silly performance and portrayed Harry's personality well.
Lily James was the actor chosen for the part of young Donna. After seeing this movie it made me love Lilly James even more. She has a great singing voice and played a great young Donna. She acted just like I imagined young Donna would be like.
I also loved this film because, like the first one, not all of the actors and actresses are exceptional singers or dancers. This is rare in musicals and seems stupid to many but I just think it adds to it. It makes it more relatable and light-hearted to see famous actors running around that sing and dance probably no better than yourself. I also think it adds to the actor's talents to be able to pull off something they are generally not good at.
Pierce Brosnan, Sam, got much criticism for singing in the first film but out of bravery still sang a small amount in this one. Even though he is not a good singer it did not make the movie any less enjoyable in my opinion.
After watching the movie I started playing the soundtrack over and over again. It helped me go back and relive the great parts of the film in my mind. I even went and listened to the original songs sung by the old 70s band ABBA, who made the movie even possible since it was based around their musical career.
Mama Mia 2 was incredibly amazing! I can't say that I liked it more than the first but it was for sure not disappointing. The film was put together great and had many scenes that made you laugh, want to get out of your chair and dance, and burst into tears.
