Welcome to my review of the 2008, movie musical, Mamma Mia! These are my personal
thoughts and opinions on the film.
Mamma Mia! is one
of those feel-good movies that I can watch over and over, without getting tired
of it. The constant ABBA hits and wild costumes leave me with a smile on my
face every time. I absolutely love how they were able to create an entire story
around songs from a Swedish pop group from the 70’s. Despite having a wonderful
and timeless soundtrack, I have to say my favorite part of this movie is the
star-studded cast.
Amanda Seyfried plays the bride-to-be, Sophie. Dominic Cooper plays her fiancée, Sky. Meryl Streep plays the lead Dynamo and Villa owner, Donna. Donna’s best friends and fellow Dynamos, Tanya and Rosie, are
played by Christine Baranski and Julie Walters. Sophie’s potential fathers are played by Pierce Brosnan, Stellan Skarsgård,
and Colin Firth. Personally, I feel like the casting was perfect. Meryl and
Amanda have a very believable and endearing mother/daughter relationship.
Meryl, Christine, and Julie have great chemistry and look like they are having
as much fun off-set as they are on-set, if not more. Pierce, Stellan, and Colin
each have very distinct personalities, making for some very comedic scenes. Amanda
and Dominic are very playful and fun. Lastly, the side characters of Ali, Lisa, and Pepper add to some interesting and memorable scenes. Benny and Björn’s
cameos do not give them a lot to do character-wise, but nonetheless, they are
fun to look out for.
I love the sets that are displayed in this movie. I find it
hard to tell sometimes which scenes were filmed on sound stages and which were
filmed on location. I find them all to be very visually pleasing. The shots on
the Greek beaches really do look like paradise, as they mention. In terms of
cinematography, I think this movie was beautifully shot. I think it offers a
wide range of close-ups, wide angles, camera pans, slow-mo, scenery, and
ensemble shots. The costumes are displayed very well among the various camera
angles.
For singing and choreography, I think both were done very
well. With the exception of Christine Baranski and a few others, the majority
of the cast had never done singing professionally. Knowing this, I think the
cast as a whole sounds phenomenal. I prefer the movie’s soundtrack to the
original, Broadway soundtrack. The choreography is fairly simple, save for a
few musical numbers, giving the movie an intimate quality. I have danced and sang
along with the movie many times.
Overall, I think Mamma
Mia! is a very solid movie on its own, but it’s an amazing musical. I wish
certain songs weren’t deleted, and I wish some were added. Other than that, I
have no complaints.
I would highly recommend this movie and I give it a 10/10.
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