Mamma Mia - Movie Review

 Mamma Mia

Review by Shelby Silver

Directed by: Phyllida Lloyd
Starring: Meryl Streep , Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, Julie Walters, Amanda Seyfried, Dominic Cooper, Stellan Skarsgard

Much described like a pop music fairy tale, Mamma Mia! Is one of those films that is sure to divide the audience in two, this movie is very much like Marmite, you either love it or you hate it, and the only way to decide how much you enjoy it is how much you can tolerate the ever-lasting ABBA, and if you can’t stand them, well then this movie isn’t made for you in the first place. A some-what cheesy adaptation of the smash hit musical Mamma Mia! This movie (for the most of you) is guaranteed to have you dancing around your living room for sure.

Despite the outdated artist, the target audience has been chosen wisely to the teenage girl audience due to the teen girl fantasy of escaping the real world, living in a real-life musical where average people break out in song and dance whilst sliding down roofs, jumping out of windows and swinging from ladders, marrying the man of your dreams with the wedding of your dreams and then living happily ever after together on a sunny Mediterranean island.

Mamma Mia! Follows the story of Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) and her three best friend’s pre-wedding antics. Sophie is desperate to marry her long-term boyfriend Sky (Dominic Cooper) on the Greek island she grew up in; Kalokairi, there is just one thing stopping her from fulfilling her dream wedding, she doesn’t exactly know who her father is to walk her down aisle but she has her suspicions. This being Her Mother’s (Meryl Streep) best kept secret. However through much investigation Sophie has managed to narrow it down to three main suspects; architect Sam (Pierce Brosnan), banker Harry (Colin Firth) and traveler writer Bill (Stellan Skarsgard). These chosen three have all been invited to the exclusive wedding without knowing why, and without Sophie’s mother knowing. Sophie is convinced she will know who her father is at first sight, but it doesn’t exactly pan out the way she expects and finds herself in a bit of a mess.

This movie has that feel-good charm that all musical adaptations seem to have. It’s easy to watch and doesn’t really take much concentration to get into it and if you can deal with the cheesy music, the plot isn’t all that bad.