Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again

Stars: Amanda Seyfried, Lily James, Pierce Brosnan, Christine Baranski, Julie Walters, Dominic Cooper, Meryl Streep, Cher, Andy Garcia, Stellan Skarsgard, Colin Firth, Jessica Keenan Wynn, Alexa Davies, Hugh Skinner, Jeremy Irvine, Josh Dylan, Omid Djalili

Director: Ol Parker

The energy, vibrancy and zinging melodies of the last 15 minutes just about save this belated sequel to the 2008 original, inspired by the songs of Abba. And it's no coincidence that those final minutes contain the equally belated appearances on the scene of (the ghost of) Meryl Streep, and Cher (as her mother!).

The body of the film, though, includes too many of Abba's less well-known songs (thank goodness for the reappearance of such surefire winners as Dancing Queen, Waterloo and The Name of the Game), as the action moves between the grand re-opening of the newly-named 'Bella Donna' hotel, organised by her daughter Sophie (Seyfried) and flashbacks to the youthful Donna (James) and her encounters with three men, one of whom is destined to become the father of her child.

At the moment, Sophie only has one daddy (Brosnan) on board for the party, although the now deceased Donna's two singing partners (Walters, Baranski) are also on hand.

The two younger female leads both sing well: James' wildly enthusiastic performance as the young Donna is fun, although Seyfried is the better at connecting with the emotion of a song. In the supporting cast, Wynn (from a famous film family) is a dead ringer for the young Baranski.

But the backstory to Donna's pregnancy, familiar from the first film, is spelled out to very little effect, becoming little more than window-dresseing to the main event. And the picture postcard Greek island (actually Vis, off Croatia) heightens the feel of artificiality that runs though a film which needs a Streep to hold it together. Mamma Mia 3? By 2028, half the cast will be in wheelchairs: enough already.

David Quinlan

USA/.UK 2018. UK Distributor: Universal. Colour by Company 3.
113 minutes. Widescreen. UK certificate: PG.

Guidance ratings (out of 3): Sex/nudity 1, Violence/Horror 0, Drugs 0, Swearing 0.

Review date: 18 Jul 2018