This was such a disappointment! Based on the good reviews (higher rating than the first one, here on IMDb) I asked for this for a gift for Christmas without having yet seen it. I instantly fell in love with the first one when I first saw it 10 years ago, without even knowing anything about it or the music of ABBA beforehand. This one was such a flop in comparison.
The story was so forced and unbelievable (yes, even more so than the original) and did not flow well at all. It contradicted some points from the original and had enormous story holes. The characters were stiff and unnatural, and their emotional responses seemed out of whack.
All of the original characters appear on the cover and posters, but you hardly see any of them except for Amanda Seyfried until the last bit of the movie. Meryl Streep only has a cameo appearance, and she was the best part of the last movie. The new star of the show, Lily James, playing a young Meryl Streep, is a good enough actor, but she isn't given a very good part to act, so her character comes off as flighty and inconsistent. The ads made it seem like Cher would be playing a significant role, but she, too, only shows up in the last 20-30 min and has a very small part. Yes, she sings "Fernando" but that's about it.
The dance sequences seemed like a regurgitation of the original movie, and half of the songs are on the original soundtrack. Some of them from the actual movie (like "Mamma Mia" and "Dancing Queen") and some outtakes that were included on the CD (like "The Name of the Game" and "I Have a Dream"). And even the new songs they picked to use are not very catchy and don't fit very well with the storyline. Or the storyline is twisted to try to get the song to fit in.
I only kept the movie playing through to the end out of sheer stubbornness to give it a fair shot and truly wishing I could love it. I could tell I wasn't going to like it within the first 15 minutes. And it was so hard to sit through, I know I'm never going to do it again, so I'm going to give away my brand new bluray, digital code and all!!
The story was so forced and unbelievable (yes, even more so than the original) and did not flow well at all. It contradicted some points from the original and had enormous story holes. The characters were stiff and unnatural, and their emotional responses seemed out of whack.
All of the original characters appear on the cover and posters, but you hardly see any of them except for Amanda Seyfried until the last bit of the movie. Meryl Streep only has a cameo appearance, and she was the best part of the last movie. The new star of the show, Lily James, playing a young Meryl Streep, is a good enough actor, but she isn't given a very good part to act, so her character comes off as flighty and inconsistent. The ads made it seem like Cher would be playing a significant role, but she, too, only shows up in the last 20-30 min and has a very small part. Yes, she sings "Fernando" but that's about it.
The dance sequences seemed like a regurgitation of the original movie, and half of the songs are on the original soundtrack. Some of them from the actual movie (like "Mamma Mia" and "Dancing Queen") and some outtakes that were included on the CD (like "The Name of the Game" and "I Have a Dream"). And even the new songs they picked to use are not very catchy and don't fit very well with the storyline. Or the storyline is twisted to try to get the song to fit in.
I only kept the movie playing through to the end out of sheer stubbornness to give it a fair shot and truly wishing I could love it. I could tell I wasn't going to like it within the first 15 minutes. And it was so hard to sit through, I know I'm never going to do it again, so I'm going to give away my brand new bluray, digital code and all!!
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