Rama’s SCREEN

Some things are better left alone. And this is one good proof of exactly that. I’ve never seen the musical stage play, my friends did and they said it was spectacular.. common choice of word, but if the movie was like the broadway version, then count me out of every stage play everywhere. I’m going to judge this based on the film quality which is… very disappointing. Don’t get your hopes up because MAMMA MIA! gives a bad name to musical movies in the history of Cinema.

Sophie is about to get married this weekend and her wish is to have her father give her away. She finds her mom’s diary and discovers that she has three possible fathers, so she invites all of them to the Island. Sophie’s mom and her fiancee have no idea about this plan. The three men arrive and now Sophie is faced with the challenge of finding out which one is her real father. Meanwhile, her mother, Donna gets reunited with her past.

I pity the people who are involved in this film. It’s clearly that they’re having fun but we who have to watch it will find it anything but fun. The humor is a miss… Most times the characters would do something silly and they have a group laugh, it’s like an inside joke because the rest of us will be left confused.

The choreography is lazy, it falls short, it’s scared to try something daring and never before seen.
All it relies on are simple, boring moves that look more like an aerobic exercise rather than a feast for the eyes.
They look like they’re doing tae-bo or doing the airplane, they’d stroll around the hill, do a mile hike while moving around in certain motions, and somebody thinks it’s clever choreography.

The Greeks would show up out of the blue frequently and you’ve had it up to here after a while. Because it fails to make you smile the first time,, so you’re wondering, why do they keep doing that!
This movie will make you look down and shake your head in embarrassment.

Just so I’m not being too harsh. This is a girlie movie only for those who are easily amused.
I do like the whole so-called mystery of trying to guess which one is the father, and the message about finding yourself and traveling the world with the one you love while you’re still young.
But do I find the movie itself inspiring? Nope.

Like I said before, I’ve never seen the broadway version, so I don’t have anything to compare this to… but the way the story makes Colin Firth’s character switch side to play for the other team comes across as trying too hard, or a desperate last cry for cheap entertainment.
Besides Meryl Streep who is always remarkable in everything she does, most of the actors aren’t that likable.
Even Meryl’s character herself is not one of her best performances.

The only aspect that makes this movie bearable is ABBA music.. nostalgic, energic, and the melody/sound still has the same effect it did years ago.
I’d rather listen to 2 hours of ABBA than to watch MAMMA MIA one more time.

* Place the cursor on the image below to check my grade for this film