As everyone knows, sequels are never as good as the original movies. There are the rare exceptions, of course, but most of the time sequels tend to disappoint fans. I was a little nervous going into "Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again" because I loved the original so much I actually wrote my midterm on it for a film class. After I heard about the sequel, I knew all I wanted from it was fun musical numbers and the heart that was the core of the original classic.
My roommate and I went and saw "Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again" as soon as it was playing at our favorite theater, which was the Thursday before the opening date. We were both really excited, but I found myself getting ready to be let down. The sequel focuses on Donna's past journey of meeting the three men that eventually became the joint fathers of her daughter, Sophie, along with the present journey of Sophie learning to deal with life now that her mother has passed away. I really enjoyed seeing the way that Donna's story started in the '70s.
It was a lot of fun, and I think Lily James did Meryl Streep's portrayal justice. She is just as charming as Meryl and completely steals the show with her likability. The past story is relatively strong, except for a few things that didn't necessarily follow the original's version, but I feel like most people will probably overlook that.
The present storyline seemed to be lacking something that the original had though. The sequel focused on too many romantic relationships and didn't achieve that same heartwarming core that the first did. I believe that if they had focused on Sophie's relationship with her grandmother, played by Cher, it would have achieved more. There is so much to unpack in that one relationship, it could almost have been the entire focus of the film. The chosen family vs. blood-related family conflict could have been the main storyline and therefore made a bigger emotional impact. But the writer/director Ol Parker decided to focus more on Sophie and Sky's strained relationship and everyone else trying to find their way back to the island of Kalokairi.
Cher doesn't even show up until the last 20 minutes of the film, which is not enough time for her to realize that she should have been a part of Sophie's life sooner and show some remorse for not having a relationship with her daughter. She just shows up and discovers her long-lost love so that she could sing the song "Fernando" (which I'm not going to lie was amazing), but why couldn't we have had both! There was no big moment for me where everything came together like in the original when Donna and Sophie sing "Slipping Through My Fingers," as they get ready for the wedding. This moment for me was the heart of the movie, Sophie realizing she doesn't need her dad to walk her down the aisle, she just needs her mom.
All in all, I think this movie is something fans will enjoy. It's just as fun as the original and it's easy to sing along to because, well you know, ABBA. It is incredibly easy to tell that a man wrote this film though as compared to the first film being written, directed, produced, and more by women, which, I think, is a large part of why it was successful in the first place. All of the actors reprised their roles and did an excellent job, but the newcomers almost steal the show. As far as sequels go, this one isn't the worst I've ever seen, but it's definitely not better than the original.
