Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again Review

The first thing I have to say: this is definitely better than the first one. I rewatched part one a couple of months ago and it was a struggle to get through. It felt like ABBA songs dropped into a movie without really fitting, and the story wasn’t great.

Part two does a whole lot better. The best thing about it is the parallels between Sophie in the present and young Donna in the past. The transitions between the two timelines are some of the smoothest I’ve seen in a movie lately. No break or hard cut, just seamless. Whoever did those, kudos to you.

The song placement is also much better. Every song feels like it belongs and pushes the story forward instead of drowning it out. When Donna’s heart gets broken, the song that comes in is perfect, right where it’s supposed to be. The songs double down on the fun times and the sad times, and song and story finally work hand in hand. It made me wish they’d made this one first and skipped part one. It also makes Donna’s confusion about the three possible fathers make sense, since it all happened so close together.

The one thing that took me out of it is how the movie handles Donna. It happens offscreen before the movie starts, it’s referenced a lot, and you never get the details. It felt like they wrote off the main star like a red shirt on Star Trek. Seeing Meryl Streep pop in near the end was nice, but I wish we’d seen more of her.

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Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (2018) Cast and Details

Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (2018) is directed by Ol Parker and stars Lily James, Amanda Seyfried, Christine Baranski, Julie Walters and Pierce Brosnan. It runs 114 minutes and is rated PG-13. You can look up the full cast and crew on IMDb. You might also like my Sorry to Bother You review.