Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again Review

I've been going to the movies since I was a wee lad, and "Mamma Mia 2" is only the second film to receive a standing ovation once the credits roll (the first was inexplicably Robin William's 2006 comedy "RV"). It's worth noting that, despite that three star score up top there, I was still sitting in my seat and my hands were not slapping each other.

That's not to say that this sequel to the 2008 original is bad, it's just not for me. Sure, I sing "Dancing Queen" when it comes on the radio, and much of the cast is superbly talented, I just wasn't feeling this movie. The jokes, though few and very far between, were fine, inoffensive chuck-inspired quips of dialogue, the performances were charming and choreography was well-staged, but what point is there here? It's about Amanda Seyfried's character "Sophia" opening a hotel in honor of her dead mom Donna (Meryl Streep)- that's it! That's the entire plot!!

The exposition leads to the your usual romantic-comedy antics that follow. A long-long love shows up. A family member appears after years of distance, with more than just a few scenes of flashbacks, though enough here to qualify this as both a sequel and a prequel.

These prequel scenes held the least amount of power, especially since I have never seen the first film, as they exist to bulk out the overall thin story with additional subplots; I also have a sneaky suspicion that these scenes, which lack the original ensemble cast, were to avoid paying the elder cast (I imagine Streep's and Cher's hourly rate is quite high). The cast during these "years ago" parts were also less than convincing- am I really supposed to believe that Jeremy Irvine is a young Pierce Brosnan?

But picture this, me in a movie theater roughly five hours ago. In a packed cineplex, a young girl the row in front of me edges to the front of her seat by the time the first song plays, and did so for every song. This movie is not for me! I feel I cannot offer this film any actual criticism because it was not made for me, and because the people it was made for so obviously enjoyed it.

In its opening weekend "Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again" has already grossed more than its $75 million dollar budget, and I imagine its soundtrack will go on to make a lot of dough as well, even if it is, in essence, just another ABBA compilation. If a film makes that much money so quickly, then the people this picture was produced for cannot be wrong. Three stars.