"Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again" finally hit theaters July 20, after 10 years since the first movie came out. The plot follows Sophie Sheridan and the rest of the original cast as they mourn the death of her mother, Donna, and fulfills her legacy by remodeling her hotel.
I was very sad that they did kill off Donna, nor do they say how she died. The movie brings it up pretty early, and so I was kinda disappointed and had low expectations because Meryl Streep's character wouldn't be in the majority of the movie. However, young Donna's role, played by Lily James, did not disappoint.
James played young Donna fresh out of college and captured her vibrant essence throughout the movie. The movie was split into half, the present day, where Sophie is trying to prepare for the hotel's remodeling party, and the past, following young Donna's journey to the island of Kalokairi.
It shows how she met of Sophie's three potential fathers, Sam, Bill, and Harry. The cast that was chosen to play the younger versions of all the characters were spitting images of the originals. I was impressed by the selection and was not let down by their performances.
The main conflict is a big storm that ruins the whole set up of the party for the hotel and parallels the storm young Donna encounters when arriving at the island. Sophie has to recover from the destruction, and also is on edge with her partner Sky. Her other two possible fathers Harry and Bill originally could not come to the party either, but eventually show up, with hundreds of other guests, fishermen and their families.
This saves the party, and Sky, who had been in New York City for business shows up to surprise Sophie. Meanwhile, we learn how young Donna made the old farmhouse into a home, the hotel, all while finding out she is pregnant with Sophie.
At the party, we also discover that Sophie is pregnant, and the news quickly travels. Later in the party, Donna's mother, Ruby, arrives via helicopter. We also find out she was a pop star, who traveled the world touring, and never met Sophie before. Sky had invited her to the party, and she makes her grand entrance. Sophie, who is slightly upset over her grandmother's appearance, ends up bonding with her.
I thought the grandmother was dead because in the first movie it was said that she was in heaven and had it out for Donna. That was a little confusing, but Cher did a great job playing Ruby. She ends up reuniting with her lost love, Fernando, who is the hotel's manager, delivering a wonderful rendition of ABBA's "Fernando."
After the party, it fast forwards to Sophie's baby's baptism, where the spirit of Donna and Sophie sing "My Love, My Life." It was a touching duet that nearly brought me to tears, and was a good way of incorporating older Donna into the movie. Finally, the last song is "Super Trouper," sung by all of the cast.
I thought this was a good way to end the story, and although some things were unanswered it played tribute to a lot of the songs and characters from the first movie. The cast was excellent, and overall I was entertained the entire time and wanted to sing along.
