The recent release of the sequel to the much beloved, feel-good film Mamma Mia graced our cinema screens this past summer, and me being me, I didn’t wait around, and managed to take my seat with my bag of popcorn within the opening week. The Musical film that feautures numerous ABBA songs was the movie everyone had been waiting for, and it did not disappoint. In my view, the 2nd film ‘Mamma Mia – Here We Go Again’ took all the best parts about the 1st movie, and combined it all with some very emotional scenes, which ultimately left the audience in floods of tears (Myself Included). Both films display the best of the best when it comes to narrative, characters and, of course, music. Although near enough impossible, due to the fact they are both amazing, I’m going to be analysing and deciding which of the 2 films I prefer.
In the 1st installment of Mamma Mia, the plot shows a linear straighforward narritive in which 20 year old ‘Sophie’ (Amanda Seyfried) is getting married, and she invites her 3 possible fathers to her wedding, all of whom she has never even met. ‘Sophie’s’ mother ‘Donna’ (Meryl Streep) finds herself in a panic when the 3 fathers show up unannounced the day before the wedding. Overall the film has a clear and intriguing narrative, mixed with all the most popular Abba songs. The film display’s a complicated situation that is resolved at the end, and although the goal of the film isn’t to drag people in for primarily the plotline, the film still does a fantastic job of telling a story that runs alongside the musical soundtrack. Although a simple narritive, the plot is made interesting through the use of song and music, with the beautiful setting of the greek islands to top it all off. However, the film itself, when just looking at the plot alone, although it includes some tense scenes, the narritive arc is not that big. When looked at properly, it is just a girl invites 3 dad’s to a wedding, mother sends them away, they come back, figure out they might be sophie’s dad, and Donna and Sam (Pierce Brosnan) get married. The plot may be quite basic in comparison to other movies, but I feel this may be done to not overcomplicate things, so the main focus is the music.
The 2nd Installment, (Mamma Mia – Here We Go Again) has a non linear narrative in which we see 2 narritives running at the same time. One takes place in present day where Sophie is rebuilding the hotel in honour of her mother who had passed years prior, whilst the other narritive takes place in the past, feautring a young Donna (Lily James) meet, and have relations, with the 3 potential fathers from the 1st film. This plot is complex and fun, as we get to see what happened years ago with Donna moving to the greek islands and meeting her 3 men along the way. The movie does a careful and great job of not portraying Donna as a womanizer, but more as having a special connection with all 3 men. With both plot’s running at the same time, and being cut between eachother, the audience are never bored, and the plot is intriguing and fun. Although the present day plot is not as intriguing as the plot in the past, it still does a brilliant job of carrying on the events of the first film, with some heartbreaking scenes, and some feel-good scenes. Overall, when it comes to plot, both have their differences, but I find the 2nd film has a more complex narritive which ultimately makes the films more interesting when it comes to what is going on. However as we, for a lot of films, and this film inparticular, plot is not what it’s all about.
The characters in ‘Mamma Mia’ and ‘Mamma Mia – Here We Go Again’ are exactly the same, as we are continuing on with the story. In the first film, we see a young Sophie, an Older Donna with her 2 friends ‘Rosie’ (Julie Walters) and ‘Tanya’ (Christine Baranski). These 2 characters add a lot of comedic effect to the film, once again adding another layer to the beloved film. We also learn about the 3 fathers, Sam, Harry (Colin Firth) and Bill (Stellan Skarzgard). We learn of Bill’s insecurities of being a father, and Harry’s excitement, whilst also witnessing diversity as we see Harry turn out to be gay, as he has relations with a man on the island. There is a lot of character development throughout the movie, showing Donna’s breakdowns of having to confront Sophie’s whilst also having to let Sophie go. Lots of emotion is conveyed through each character which is something that this film does well.
‘Mamma Mia – Here We Go Again’ lets us meet the younger versions of the stars in the movie, which add’s so much more depth to each character. Young Sam (Jeremy Irvine), Bill (Josh Dylan) and Harry (Hugh Skinner) are portrayed just like their older selfs but in a more innocent, youthful light. We see young Donna who is a free spirit and want’s to see the world. By witnessing what each character was like in their youth allows the audience to immerse themselves in the world of Mamma Mia a lot more, and get to know that characters a lot more. Also, with the introduction of ‘Cher’ as sophie’s grandmother, we get a better feel for why Donna was the way she is, and who dosen’t love ‘Cher’. However, Meryl Streep’s absence for most of the movie, let a lot of fans down, as she was one of the main attractions in the 1st installment. Although this dissapointed fans, the depth added to each character was so immense in the 2nd film the it exceeded any character development featured in the 1st film. Overall, once again, Mamma Mia – Here We Go Again exceeds the 1st film when it comes to characters, purely for the added depth in the 2nd installment.
The 1st film was brilliant when it came to music and dnce. It was fresh and new, and featured all the best, most well known ABBA songs, not to mention slotting them all into the film to fit so perfectly with the running narritive. From the first beat, everyone wants to get up and dance to all the songs. The only one negative in the first film is the singing we get from some of the male actors, who struggle with their vocals. However the music itself is so brilliant, and is nothing short of 1st class. The dancing in the film is so lively and fun, with everything so perfect and well rehersed. Overall, I would rate the music in the 1st film a 10/10, as who dosent love ABBA, and even if you don’t listen to them all that much, you’ll be able to recognise nearly all the songs in the 1st film due to the popularity of them.
The 2nd film had some great music too, aswell as including some of the most popular songs from the 1st film, such as ‘Dancing Queen’ and ‘Mamma Mia’. All the songs are very likeable and something that you can get really into if you listen to them all the time. However, for people who arent die-hard fans of ABBA, the songs are not as familiar, with a lot of the audience not being able to recognise some of the songs. One of the main selling points for the Mamma Mia movies are that you will most likely know all the songs, but with this film, there is no guarantee. I thourougly love the soundtrack to the 2nd film, it is incredibly catchy and a joy to listen too. However, upon watching it the first time, I didnt feel the urge to get up and dance for quite a few of the songs due to the fact I didn’t know them at first. Overall, I think the first Mamma Mia exceeds the 2nd one, due to the amount of feel-good singing and dancing that everyone knows and loves.
Overall, I believe that if the music were removed from both films, the 2nd film would be better then the 1st. The plot and character development, mixed with the actors capability to convey emotion is brilliant and intriguing. However, the music, although amazing, catchy and an asset to the movie, the first one connects with the music so well, with hte brilliant dance moves, and the songs fitting in with the plot so well, it turns the film into an emotional rollercoaster of comedy, heartbreak and love. I love both films dearly, and they are both close to my heart in so many ways, however the 1st film manages to get me up dancing, and it is a pure delight to watch. This was a very difficult decision to make, as I could watch both of the films on repeat for hours on end, but the 1st Mamma Mia is the original, and comes just above the 2nd one. Either way, I highly reccomend these films to anyone who is feeling down, as they are both such feel-good films, from the setting to the music. Both films are really a spectacle that deserve every bit of appreciation they get.
Sam’s Movie & TV reviews 