FILM REVIEW: Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again begs the question 'how can I resist you?'

2018, US, directed by Ol Parker, starring Lily James, Amanda Seyfriend, Christine Baranski, Julie Walters, Pierce Brosnan, Meryl Streep & Cher.

Now screening at most cinemas.

Watch this if you liked: Mamma Mia! (2008), Across The Universe (2007)

Rating: B-

The first Mamma Mia!, released a decade ago, was a guilty pleasure par excellence. Mixing familiar, catchy ABBA tunes with a story that wore its heart on its sleeve and a game cast clearly having a whale of a time, one couldn’t help but be won over by its sheer willingness to please. How could the second film ever hope to capture that kind of dorky joy, especially when faced with a lack of Meryl Streep and a well running low on recognisable songs? The answer, as with many sequels, is doing the same but bigger.

Instead of the first film’s relatively simple story, Here We Go Again contains multiple timelines and a story that covers decades. This creates its own problems, from an inconsistent tone to thinly sketched characters and a plot that drags at times. It’s hard maintaining an emotional connection with such thinly-drawn characters, and it’s only thanks to the skill and enthusiasm of actors like Lily James and Hugh Skinner that we care at all. That the film’s flashbacks also contain some obvious and awkward CGI doesn’t help matters. Also, the scenes set in the present flirt with some depressing and bleak relationship developments. However, it doesn’t have the heart to explore them, instead choosing to ignore the central dilemma entirely to create a safe and happy ending, which feels like a cheat.

However, despite all that, it’s hard not to be pulled into the film’s sheer exuberance. Once it moves past the ABBA deep cuts (‘When I Kissed The Teacher’ is a poorly chosen early number) and gets into the classic hits, it maintains enough good will to get you through. For every lethargic ‘Andante, Andante’, there’s a delightful, dancy, unashamedly dorky rendition of ‘Waterloo’, which includes a baguette fight. Or the sheer joy of Christine Baranski and Julie Walters, stealing and livening up every scene they’re a part of, trying to take over the lyrics of ‘Angeleyes’ which almost makes up for the cardinal sin of a misplaced ‘Knowing Me, Knowing You’. That the actors are clearly having a blast definitely helps, and by the time of the shamelessly manipulative finale, I found myself tearing up.

And then there’s Cher. She gets an entrance worthy of her icon status and, although it’s really just an extended cameo, the film takes on a different kind of energy. Her rendition of ‘Fernando’ is stunning and almost made my little gay heart explode with delight. It’s the kind of cinematic gift that Hollywood gives to the gay men in the audience once in a lifetime. That joy continues into the final song which features every major actor from the film joining in for an extended sing along. That the actors look so utterly delighted to be there almost makes up for the rest of the film’s occasionally lethargic energy.

As a film, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again is deeply flawed, tonally disjointed and strangely paced, but as a piece of entertainment to watch with your family or a game group of friends, then it’s almost impossible to resist.