Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again

[osprey_archer]

At last I have seen Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! Which was not quite as good as the first one, in my opinion - the songs aren’t quite as propulsive (except for “Waterloo”) and the movie as a whole isn’t as high-energy, and why did they kill of Donna Sheridan? - but it was still a lot of fun to see most of the old gang all together again. There’s a scene where Sophie sings with the Dynamoes which is touching, if Donna had to be dead.

I also really enjoyed the parts of the movie that chronicle Donna’s youth. Lily James is simply luminous as young Donna; in fact I thought they did a great job casting all the young versions of the older cast. I’m not entirely sure how Hugh Skinner could grew into Colin Firth, but he’s nonetheless hilarious, and I could 100% see young Harry being exactly that awkward, he’s learned to mask it more as he gets older but his innate awkwardness still pokes out at moments.

(But I’m still not convinced that Donna had to be dead. They could have come up with another plot, surely?)

Comments

[ladyherenya]

But I’m still not convinced that Donna had to be dead. They could have come up with another plot, surely?

I haven't seen the sequel yet and this is why. It seems so unnecessarily cruel! Even if Streep wasn't available, even if they wanted to set up flashbacks.

[osprey_archer]

It's not as much of a tearjerker as I feared they might make it, but still it just seems... unnecessary. They could still have flashbacks if Donna was alive! Sophie could find old keepsakes or old photos or something and it could lead into a memory, or something like that.

[ladyherenya]

Yes, it doesn't really take much to trigger reminiscing or to have someone wondering about their parents' experiences. There are lots of ways they could set that sort of thing up.

[troisoiseaux]

I watched this recently while I was stuck on a plane for 3 hours longer than expected and I completely agree with everything you've said. I definitely feel like they didn't need to kill off Donna. (Maybe instead, they could have revealed Sophie's pregnancy earlier, and as she's, idk, figuring out how to tell everyone - especially since they're so busy, in the midst of reopening her mom's hotel! - that's where the Donna flashbacks come in...?)

[osprey_archer]

I'm wondering if there was some kind of scheduling conflict with Meryl Streep's other films, but even then, couldn't they have arranged it so that she and Sam are... away on a trip or something... and get trapped by bad weather halfway around the globe, so Sophie has to finish preparations for the reopening all by herself while also realizing that she's pregnant? Which makes her introspective about her own mother's pregnancy? Or something.

I did the bit where Rosie starts crying whenever someone says Donna's name (in general, I just love the Donna and the Dynamos relationship), but that in itself wasn't enough to reconcile me to Donna's death.

[troisoiseaux]

Honestly, I can't help but wonder if the fact that they killed off Donna was in some way to avoid having Cher and Meryl Streep actually interact and like.... make it less obvious that, although they're supposed to play a mother and daughter, actually they're only three years apart in age? (But then why have that as a thing in the first place.)

[osprey_archer]

That makes a certain amount of sense, but at the same time, as you say, why have that be a thing in the first place? Especially given that Cher's character contradicts what Donna said about her mother in the first movie: it's been a while since I've seen it, but IIRC her mother either disowned her or at least intensely disapproved of the number of men that she slept with. Cher's character doesn't mention that at all; it seems like she's stayed away mostly because she can't bear to admit she's a grandmother.

[troisoiseaux]

RIGHT? I assumed it was the out-of-wedlock thing rather than quantity, but yeah, definitely did not get the impression that Donna's mom was some high-flying pop superstar with her own scandalous past.

Also, I may have mixed up my timeline of the movie, but I feel like having Donna's mom show up was weird considering that - in my, again, potentially inaccurate memory - they'd just positioned the woman who owned the tavern/gave Donna the hotel as a kind of mother figure to her (helping out when Sophie was born, etc.) Idk, I'm super weak for found families so I would have liked to see them play more with that, rather than the whole SURPRISE, CELEBRITY CAMEO thing.

[osprey_archer]

I think they had Cher show up because they wanted to work in the song Fernando somehow and they just didn't think about the fact that it made very little sense to have Sophie's grandma's big number be about her reconciliation with some guy introduced in this movie solely for this song, rather than, you know, her reconciliation with her granddaughter. Or her daughter, if they had left Donna alive.

Plus they dropped the tavern-owner-as-surrogate-mother plotline entirely once Cher showed up. Maybe they figured she'd served her purpose once she turned the farmhouse over to Donna? But they could have gotten so much more out of it.

Basically I think this is an example of filmmakers prioritizing heterosexual courtship over bonds between women even though the set-up means that focusing on the family relationships would make so much more sense and also offer way more emotional payoff than "Suddenly, Fernando!"

[troisoiseaux]

Yeah. Basically......................... yeah, to all of the above. SIGH.

(Also, speaking of the overprioritizaion of heterosexual courtship, CAN COLIN FIRTH FIND LOVE. PLEASE. I understand that it may be confusing to introduce a 4th dad in the mix at this stage but like... considering the And Suddenly Fernando subplot just discussed... I take that back, it really wouldn't!)

[osprey_archer]

WHY COULDN'T COLIN FIRST FALL FOR FERNANDO.

Then they could still have the song, AND the grandmother's storyline could have focused on her reunion with Sophie/possibly Donna who was still alive in this version of the film!

[carmarthen]

Noooo you said the name of the Song that Always Earworms Me!!!

I did think bby Bill was a dead-on impression of a hotter version of young Stellan Skarsgard and I adored the "Best Swede Award" joke (god bless, I love him). Also I think I came out of it shipping Harry/Bill? But overall it was kind of. Not so fun? Not joyful? Missing most of what I love about the first one. I think the framing of Donna being dead was just...kind of a damper on the whole movie.

[osprey_archer]

This is the danger in talking about Mamma Mia! Someone always gets earwormed.

Yeah, Donna being dead was a real damper. And it was totally unnecessary! They could have had loads of flashbacks to her early days AND still had her alive! Maybe Sophie... finds an old photo album while clearing out the inn for its grand reopening. Or something.

[carmarthen]

Yeah, there are a lot of things they could have done. Bah.