Movie Review: Mamma Mia! 🎤 👰🏼

All musical movies should have subtitles for audiences to sing-along.

CREDIT: Universal Pictures

This post for Mamma Mia! contains spoilers.

Love, family, and friendship are three words that I would use to sum up Mamma Mia! (2008, directed by Phyllida Lloyd). It is a thrill to watch original music by Abba being performed by cast members Meryl Streep (Donna Sheridan), Amanda Seyfried (Sophie Sheridan), Christine Baranski (Tanya), Julie Walters (Rosie), Pierce Brosnan (Sam Carmichael), Colin Firth (Harry Bright), Stellan Skarsgård (Bill Andersson) and Dominic Cooper (Sky).

Mamma Mia! follows the story of Donna who is reunited with three men from her past; her daughter Sophie is about to get married and decided to secretly invite her potential Dad(s) to her wedding, in hopes of finding out which is her biological father.

The stellar cast does a great job in portraying their emotions in songs; through dance movements and shiny bright costumes, this movie makes me want to sing and dance along with the cast. The friendship between Donna, Tanya and Rosie—though exaggerated at times—is believable on-screen. Their musical numbers are the ones that stood out in the movie; I mean having Streep in any scene is already a bonus for audiences. Donna and the Dynamos performing Super Trouper was so awesome—everything from their movements, to the acting, to the costumes, was just so magical. I also especially enjoyed watching Baranski’s carefree performance in Mamma Mia! after watching her being so serious on The Good Wife and The Good Fight.

CREDIT: Universal Pictures

I’m not sure if at the time of Mamma Mia!’s release in 2008, whether homosexuality in movies were commonplace. I don’t actually think it was… I mean that was the year that Twilight dominated the world; heterosexual couples were definitely still the main focus in Hollywood cinema—even now it still kind of is. The reveal of Firth’s character Harry being gay was played out in a humorous way. I loved the conversation between Bill and him on the boat, where they were both talking about two different things; Bill was hinting that he understood Harry to be gay, and Harry was referring about Sophie potentially being his daughter—that scene was gold!

CREDIT: Universal Pictures

The use of a Greek chorus in Mamma Mia! was a good complement to the musical numbers. It really enhanced each performance; my favourite would definitely be the scene where Streep is performing Mamma Mia.

Rating: 4/5

Sidenotes on Mamma Mia!:

• Sorry for the common choice, but my favourite song in the soundtrack is definitely Dancing Queen. I was literally singing along with Streep, Baranski and Walters.
• This movie was definitely more focused on the veteran cast members. I can’t even remember Sophie’s two best friends in the movie.
• Colin Firth will forever be such a babe 🙂