Mamma Mia! Ci risiamo

I spent 90% of this movie with a huge smile on my face and 10% trying not to ugly cry. Wonderfully cheesy and lovely!

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.

This sequel takes place a year after the death of Donna. Her daughter Sophie plans to reopen her mother's hotel, on a Greek island, unfortunately it looks as if neither her three fathers nor her husband will be able to attend the opening party. Intertwined with scenes of her preparing for the reopening we see how her mother came to the island all those years ago... and how she encountered the three men who are Sophie's fathers. Of course at every possible opportunity the cast sing an appropriate ABBA song.

If you didn't enjoy 'Mamma Mia' you certainly won't enjoy this as it is more of the same; this of course means if you did enjoy the first you are likely to enjoy this too. The story is fairly simple but it is fun; especially the flashback scenes of Donna making her way to the island and meeting the younger versions of the 'three fathers' for the first time. The songs are fun even if things are stretched a bit to justify the inclusion of some well-known songs... particularly 'Fernando'. Of course the songs are a lot of fun, even the less well-known ones. The cast does a fine job and are clearly having fun; Lily James stands out as the young Donna. The setting, with its beautiful settings and mostly fine weather, only add to the pleasure provided by the film. Overall I'd say this won't be for everybody but it is good cheesy fun if you enjoy that sort of thing... and I did, more than I expected.

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.

I'm at a loss why there are so many poor reviews of this film. But everyone is entitled to their own opinion. I loved it from the start. Lily James was outstanding as young Donna. Yes it was a shame Meryl Streep didn't play a bigger part but such is life. Take it for what it is. There were a couple of songs i didn't know so it may have been better keeping to the well known songs, however they did fit in with the script. It was a rollercoaster or emotions. Laughing and crying in equal measure. Julie Walters was as fabulous as always too. I loved it and will be watching it again as soon as i can.