Mamma Mia! Movie Review by undergroundmr

Mamma Mia! Movie Review by undergroundmr



Buy the Movie Poster for Mamma Mia!

CURRENT RATINGS: 6/10 Movie: Mamma Mia! (2008)

ACTING STYLE AND ABILITY - IS THE CHARACTER BELIEVABLE AND INTERESTING

Meryl Streep’s long career in film has been highlighted with various awards and nominations including ACADEMY AWARDS, GOLDEN GLOBES, and TONY AWARDS, but she is known for immersing herself in the characters. STREEP is known for developing accents and images essential to her characters including an Australian accent for A Cry in the Dark. Despite all her nominations [she ties JACK NICHOLSON for the most GOLDEN GLOBE AWARD nominations with six, singing is an area that STREEP should not have tackled. It seems to be a trend in recent films to have actors who are not singers perform singing numbers in films and musicals, such as JOHNNY DEPP and HELENA BOHNAM CARTER in SWEENEY TODD or GERARD BUTLER in PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. BUTLER maintained the best vocal command but MERYL STREEP and HELENA BOHNAM CARTER will go down as the most crackling vocals. Luckly for MAMA MIA, the female supporting cast could sing, dance, and generally make the audience laugh including Amanda Seyfried as SOPHIE as well as Julie Walters and Christine Baranski as STREEP’s best friends.
THE STORY LINE - DOES THE STORY OR PLOT FLOW SMOOTHLY THROUGHOUT THE FILM

MAMA MIA focuses around the impending wedding of SOPHIE played by AMANDA SEYFRIED to her boyfriend SKY on a Greek Island. SOPHIE wants to have her father give her away but after an investigation discovers that she has three potential fathers, so she invites all three to her wedding to determine which one is her biological father. Her mother DONNA played by MERYL STREEP is shocked by her daughter’s behavior but after trials and tribulations SOPHIE is content to have three fathers. As in traditional musical fashion, there is a wedding but the surprise is whose wedding.

PRODUCTION - DOES THE DIRECTOR HAVE STYLE, DOES THE PRODUCER HAVE AN OVERALL

MAMA MIA should had been a better production besides the breath taking Greek Island scenery. The musical numbers by ABBA should had been the spotlight, but producer BENNY ANDERSSON decided to make MERYL STREEP and PIERCE BROSNAN the spotlight instead. The script was forgettable and choppy instead of smooth and flowing. The musical numbers were used to illustrate the script, but unfortunately the ABBA songs didn’t help the lack of direction in the film. MAMA MIA could had benefited from a less clichéd script, singing lessons, and more plot development.

THE UNDERGROUND UNIVERSE – OVERALL THOUGHTS

MERYL STREEP’s lack of a singing voice was extremely distracting and down graded MAMA MIA as an overall production. The ‘potential fathers’ PIERCE BROSNAN, COLIN FIRTH, and STELLAN SKARSGARD were lackluster at best in the film. The fathers seemed to be dropped in the film for necessity, but scrambled around the movie popping up from time to time. I was relieved to hear AMANDA SEYFRIED actually sing instead of STREEP or BROSNAN pretending to have vocal ability. [it simply sounded like screeching and scratching] The entertaining pair of MAMA MIA was not the big stars, but the best friends played by JULIE WALTERS and CHRISTINE BARANSKI. WALTERS and BARANSKI were fun and cheeky with energy, liveliness, and spunk. MAMA MIA should have been a better overall production instead of a glorified travel brochure.