So just got back from “Mamma Mia.” I enjoyed it, and if you’ve seen the Broadway show and liked it, then I think you’ll like the movie. If you’ve never seen the show . . . . well . . . . I don’t know. Three women were sitting next to me who loved Abba but hadn’t seen it and they liked it. Whether you like it will depend on three things I think. I think you need to 1) really like Abba 2) accept that this movie is going to be cheesy (as in so far over the top cheesy) on purpose and 3) accept that they cast Pierce Brosnan for looks and appeal to a certain age of woman and clearly not his ability to sing (which he can’t, at all, even though he tried, really hard).
The storyline from the show is all there. I won’t give anything away, though honestly it’s pretty much given away in the trailers really. That’s about it, a wedding and three possible dads. There are some twists along the way. I really like what they did with Collin’s character in the movie, and the audience also thought it was hilarious.
The audience seemed to like it over all. There was clapping, laughter and singing. One girl started dancing during the credits, I think trying to get others to join her.
Because a lot of people found my old “Mamma Mia” post through Googling what had been changed, here is a list of things I can recall . . . .
“Knowing Me, Knowing You” and “Under Attack” are both gone. “Name Of The Game” will appear on the DVD as an extra. This was a last minute edit, it apparently appeared in previews last month in San Francisco. “Thank You For The Music” runs during the closing credits and is not in the show. “I Do, I Do, I Do,” while not on the soundtrack, is in there. So is “Chiquita,” which is one of the best numbers of the whole film.
Added in was the song “When All Is Said And Done.” However unlike on the soundtrack where it’s a duet, it’s basically just Pierce singing it in the movie.
“Take A Chance On Me” is moved around from when it appears in the show. Rather than happening right before the wedding (the characters are setting chairs) it happens at the celebration dinner for Donna and Sam (which isn’t in the show). This I thought was a good move mainly because they needed something big and well known to sorta close the movie out (I always thought “I Do, I Do, I Do” wasn’t the strongest thing to basically go out on).
“Gimme Gimme Gimme” seemed to have been truncated a bit in the movie I thought to allow for too much talking between the characters of Sophie and Sam.
Oh and yes, the encores of “Dancing Queen” and “Waterloo” are there EXACTLY as they are in the show. I won’t say anymore because this is the funny treat of the film/show if you’ve never seen it.
