Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again!

Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again fails to bring anything new to the table. It is made purely based on the success of the first film. Hollywood tend to do that a lot. When a film becomes successful, they make a 2nd film out of it, which lacks pretty much everything. First of all, if you want to go to see this film because Meryl Streep is in, don't bother, because she has a scene of 5 minutes in the end. She just sings two songs and that's pretty much it. She is in the front row of the film poster, she is the main image of the final trailer, because production company uses her image to attract audience. These kinds of tricks can be seen a lot, while advertising substandard quality films. Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again has one purpose, and that is to make more money by using the fame of the first film. I failed to understand why they even bothered making a sequel when everything was wrapped beautifully in the first film. Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again is written and directed by Ol Parker. I said written, but I really don't know what he has exactly written, because in the means of story there is nothing.

The people in this film are like from a different planet. They live in a parallel universe or something. There is no one ugly in the film. Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again is all about beautiful people, their artificially created problems, fake tears, sadness and meaningless joy. They are all very successful, their secret bonds don't have a resource. We don't know why those characters love each other so much, but they do. The film takes place five years after the previous events. Donna is dead. Sophie (Amada Seyfried) takes over the hotel and builds it from zero. While they prepare for the grand opening, we go back to 1979, where everything starts for Donna. She is claimed to be a free soul and an independent woman, but someone must tell the writer of this character that having one night stands with handsome men on your way to Greek Island is not independence. Young Donna (Lily James) is presented to be a very different girl, but when you watch her behaviors, she is pretty much superficial. She falls in love with a man, gets depressed after he leaves, and in the very same day, she has sex with a different guy because she is very sad. Sophie and her problems regarding the hotel in the present day are told in parallel with Donna's youth and her story, how she met Sam (Pierce Brosnan), Harry (Colin Firth) and Bill, (Stellan Skargard) how she moved to the island of Kalokairi and how she built the hotel.

Young Donna's friends Tanya and Rosie, as well as her lovers, Harry, Bill and Sam, are played by actors and actresses who have nothing to do with the actual characters. They all look very different. The story takes place in a Greek island but the film was shot in Croatia and Shepperton Studios in Surrey England. Set up of the sequel is pretty much similar with the first film. There is a song for every situation. The story was created based on the situations in those songs, and there is a song for every character, problem and situation. That's the reason why I said there is no story. It is time for a sad song, a sad situation is created. It is time for a joyful song, and something happy happens. There are very few scenes that can be compared with real life situations. Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again is a complete waste of money and time. I had a good taste in my mouth after the first film, but now that is all gone thanks to this useless film that was made just because of financial matters.

The strongest point of the film is its songs. It is satisfying in the means of music. You get to hear songs mostly from ABBA, as usual, and Arrival. After all, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again is also a musical, but even so, some songs are really bad for my taste. When I Kissed the Teacher from Arrival is one, for an example. Just to be able to sing this song, they created a graduation scene. This is what I meant when I said, circumstances are created based on the songs in the film. I have never seen such a thing in my life. I haven't seen an acting performance worth mentioning. This film was released on July 16, 2018 in Hammersmith Apollo and on July 20, 2018 in the United Kingdom and United States. It has 114 minutes of runtime and made with a budget of $75 Million. With a forced story and meaningless characters, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again is a film that I will never watch again. Having actors and actresses in the film just because they look beautiful shouldn't be a criteria while choosing your characters. This sequel is so hopeless that even the presence of Andy Garcia and Cher couldn't save it.

After 10 years we all should know the Mama Mia! plot and characters. It was refreshing to watch the "fore-story" with new actors, interspersed with the original cast. The constant transitions/fades between 20 years before and present required attention, but was fascinating, eye-riveting and ABBA's music and cameo never fail. Everyone I have talked to, who has seen, it want to go back one more time. (Hint: Don't leave until ALL of the final credits have rolled).

Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, takes place five years after the original movie, as Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) prepares a party for the grand reopening of her mother's Hotel Bella Donna on Kalokairi. Through flashbacks, a second plot-line set in 1979 reveals how young Donna (Lily James) met and romanced the young Sam, Bill, and Harry who became Sophie's fathers.

The 1979 plot-line, which was written to fill in the long-awaited details of how Donna became involved with Sam, Bill, and Harry, was, for the most part, uninspired. The attraction between Young Donna and the charming Bill (Josh Dylan) was believable, and a bright spot in the movie. The development of Donna's feelings for Sam (Jeremy Irvine) and Harry (Hugh Skinner) were unconvincing, though, and it seems that the songs in these scenes were used to cover up for the lack of chemistry between the characters.

Cast-wise, the lovely and charming Lily James carried the show. She sang beautifully, turned in an outstanding acting performance, and most of her scenes made for striking cinematography. Cher (as Ruby Sheridan) rode the strength of "Fernando" to one of the musical's highlight numbers, but her performance in "Super Trouper" was lackluster.

Director Ol Parker did not measure up to Phyllida Lloyd's impressive directing in the original Mamma Mia! The supporting players, Christine Baranski, Julie Walters, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, and Stellan Skarsgard were not well portrayed in some scenes by Parker, and the actors looked awkward at times. Lloyd's use of facial close-ups and angles in the original were brilliant by comparison.

Five songs; Waterloo, "I Have a Dream," "The Name of the Game," "Mamma Mia," "Dancing Queen," and "Super Trouper" from the original Mamma Mia! are featured in this prequel.

The dance scenes mostly looked bland in comparison to the original. The "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)" -- "Voulez-Vous" party sequence of the original movie was spectacular in comparison.

There are a few good songs that were not used in the original. Early in the movie, Lily James turns in a sexy performance with "When I Kissed the Teacher," wearing retro-style pinstriped pants that accentuate her curvy hips. Mostly, though, the writers reached pretty deep to present music in Here We Go Again that wasn't sung in the original. Unfortunately, this resulted in many of the musical segments feeling forced into the story line. Also, Director Ol Parker falls well short of achieving the enjoyable visual and audio quality of the original film's musical numbers.

While the on-scene sets were mostly in Greece in the original, most of the on-scene sets in Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again were in Croatia. Although they tried to achieve similar scenic effects in Here We Go Again, the scenery is better in the original.

The original Mamma Mia!, with an excellent cast, superb directing, intense face close-ups, choice song selection, beautiful scenery, and superbly-produced musical numbers resulted in a huge smile factor for me throughout the movie. Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again fell well short of the original in all these aspects, with few smiles.

Feel-good film of the year. I cannot get over how good this movie was. It was the most entertaining sequel I've seen. Point. There was a portion in the middle of the film where I laughed after every line said.

This is a humorous, light-hearted film that gets you addicted to the feeling of being young; having no plans and being okay with the uncertainty of it all.

A aesthetically beautiful film that captures the heart of the disco eva of the 70's. Costumes are beautiful - especially that scene in the orchard when the girl wears that orange skirt. Gorgeous.

A film to watch with your mum, ganny and best friend. Go into the film with a smile and leave laughing. Don't expect to learn life lessons - just enjoy the silliness of the Mamma Mia universe.

In a world that has gone crazy, it was so nice just to sit back for 114 minutes and forget about real life. Transport yourself back to a simpler time and of course to the wonderful music of ABBA. Throughout the movie you go through all the emotions yet once it had finished you just want to sit there and wish you could do it all again The whole cast looked like they had as much fun making it as we did watching it. Everyone did their bit although Lily James was outstanding as the young Donna. It's one of those rare films as you leave your seat and enter the real world you do so with the biggest smiles of your face.