Really it's more like a 6.5 but the current IMDB score feels a bit mean. The story is quite straightforward- 40-something Rachel (Aisling Bea) wins tickets to a reunion concert of her favourite boyband. She wants to take her fellow fans- her school friends who she has not seen for 25 years. The film flicks between 1993, when the girls are 16, and the present-day (doesn't look like the screenplay was updated from the original musical, which places the film in 2018).
Some of the reviewers have got confused- the band is not meant to be Take That; we never find out the name of the band (they are just referred to as 'the boys'). The band themselves are actually very bland and you can't imagine any girl getting in a frenzy over them. This is a drawback in the early part of the film because we're listening to Take That songs being sung like a weak bit of karaoke. Later on in the film the characters get to sing some of their songs (the highlights being 'Back for Good', as the women duet with their younger selves, and a funeral version of 'A Million Love Songs').
The younger actors were particularly good and it will bring back happy nostalgic memories for women, losing their school friendships, but there are a few plot elements that just don't ring true:
It's obviously going for the Mamma Mia! Feel with the emphasis on friendships but the difference is that ABBA doesn't have a typical audience- they cross different generations- and everyone knows their songs, whereas Take That have a specific audience (women in their thirties and forties), and whilst they do have good songs, they don't have the same classic status.
I did overall enjoy the film's message about not completely burying your younger self- I feel like this was really the main theme rather than long lost friends reuniting.
Some of the reviewers have got confused- the band is not meant to be Take That; we never find out the name of the band (they are just referred to as 'the boys'). The band themselves are actually very bland and you can't imagine any girl getting in a frenzy over them. This is a drawback in the early part of the film because we're listening to Take That songs being sung like a weak bit of karaoke. Later on in the film the characters get to sing some of their songs (the highlights being 'Back for Good', as the women duet with their younger selves, and a funeral version of 'A Million Love Songs').
The younger actors were particularly good and it will bring back happy nostalgic memories for women, losing their school friendships, but there are a few plot elements that just don't ring true:
- One of the members of the original friendship group is killed on the way back from the concert. Surely this would mean you avoid their music because it's associated with tragedy?
- Women do not lose contact for 25 years and suddenly revert to their childhood selves, reigniting the old passions. You get the feeling these girls would have eventually lost touch anyway.
It's obviously going for the Mamma Mia! Feel with the emphasis on friendships but the difference is that ABBA doesn't have a typical audience- they cross different generations- and everyone knows their songs, whereas Take That have a specific audience (women in their thirties and forties), and whilst they do have good songs, they don't have the same classic status.
I did overall enjoy the film's message about not completely burying your younger self- I feel like this was really the main theme rather than long lost friends reuniting.