Very few reviews to choose from. Here’s something tepid from the Guardian‘s Peter Bradshaw (as if we care what he thinks
Mamma Mia! The Movie is very different. Everything has been squeaky-cleaned up. It too has a feelgood wedding motif – but there is no irony, no heartache, certainly no paralysing illness, no dramatic plausibility, and weirdly, no hint that the characters know whose songs they are singing; there is no sense of perspective on the music. In Mamma Mia! Abba is everywhere and nowhere. This is Planet Abba or Abbaworld. The characters are forever dancing and smiling and bursting into Abba songs like Stepford cyborgs when you flip the secret panel behind their heads and press the Life-Affirming Behaviour button. An Abba instrumental is even used when the bride walks up the aisle, instead of Handel. And nobody ever says: “Oh for Gawd’s sake, just for a change, can we sing something by the Carpenters?”
I’d post something sweeter but I don’t want to get any mold on it. 56% score on RT at the moment. Is there a sundried Greek recipe that calls for half fresh tomatoes and half rotten ones? I’m sure with the right blend of Mediterranean spice and chopped jive… and a wave of the magic wand: Abba-cadaver! …um, oh.
The inside benefit however is definitely terrible oxygen.
jordan 11 gamma blue http://www.olsontek.com
Authorities are often the planet’s big manipulators.
north face outlet http://www.csuzetas.com
This is absolutely the BEST movie you will ever see!
Meryl Streep is AWESOME! She sings “the winner takes it all” and it is amazing. This movie is so fun and you can’t help smiling and singing along. I’ve been to see it 6 times and I love it! I’ve been so inspired by it that I’ve made a website. Check it out: http://www.freewebs.com/mymammamia
while the rest of you losers were seeing that Batman movie, I went to see Mama Mia (just kidding, I”m going to see TDK tomorrow).
I loved it! It really was a ton of fun. Bright and beautiful, music and dance filled fun. Meryl, Amanda, Christine, Colin (!) and Julie were absolutely wonderful.
But since we came home, the game we’re playing is:
Since Pierce Brosnan sucked, who would have done better?
So far, the house choice is Kevin Kline.
Other votes?
Yawn.
I didn’t even like sitting through the trailer.
but I will see it. For Meryl. you don’t get to see her singing & dancing often.
& also it has Christine Baransky.
Still- if Doubt is the smash that all the hype seems to think it will be, Meryl may very likely be this year’s GG double-nominee… Actress in a Drama, Actress in a Musical/Comedy. Its always fun when that happens to someone you like. & the movies are just SO different. It’ll be pretty cool to have them next to each other…
Other than that, please let this movie just pass us by quietly…
(if I find myself actually sucked in & enjoying it, I promise to issue an apology. Somewhere. Subtly)
Likely it will just make me want to go home & find the ‘Abba GOLD’ Cd I made my dad buy me when I was 14… (1st CD I ever owned..)
I doubt that there is any critic anywhere, theatre or cinema, who will admit to liking something that is just fun. Well, unless it’s raunchy and profane enough to qualify in their minds as “edgy” (the Judd Apatow gang). The “magic” is gone, with rare exceptions like Mamma Mia. Count me in. Yeah, I’ll go to Dark Knight, too, but I doubt very much that I will have a great time.
Hey, just thought I’d let you know that to celebrate the release of Mamma Mia, global polling community Poll the People have launched a poll to find the definitive BEST ABBA SONG!
have your say now – http://www.pollthepeople.com
bad reviews won’t be a surprise. the stage show was never a favorite with critics, nor with me. i, in fact, hated it. but then, i can’t argue with a HUGE success. and this thing–the live show–is a juggernaut. 2 billion dollars? i don’t think TITANIC made 2 billion. people around me in the theatre were ecstatic. audiences don’t like it, they LOVE it! who am i to argue? there is so little out there that people genuinely love anymore. there is something to be said about something that produces happiness. SOUND OF MUSIC did that, and critics were lukewarm to it. i just hope it makes a ton of money and inspires Hollywood to keep on making musicals. we need another vibrant genre to compete with the comicbook, fanboy stuff. just read that Marc Platt is making WICKED into a film and remaking JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR. i’m glad.
Had to listen to ABBA (in those years it was everywhere), never saw the play, and have EVERY intention to see MAMMA MIA …
This just looks like fun. Not superhero fun, not romantic comedy fun, not indie film fun, just singin’ and dancin’ and Meryl Streep and ABBA music and the Greek Isles and Colin Firth fun.
I stopped looking at RT when they changed their web format and go with Metacritic. Currently 6 reviewers and a 53. Fine by me. Here’s a snip from Emily Rems from Premiere who gave it 2.5 stars:
“Before plunking down your cash for a ride on the Mamma Mia! express when it pulls into town, just ask yourself one question: Do I really dig ABBA? It’s a relevant query not only because the ebullient musical is packed to the gills with songs made famous by the Swedish ’70s supergroup, but also because ABBA’s fluffy, feel-good anthems really capture the vibe of the whole movie. Don’t let the presence of its grande dame star Meryl Streep fool you — Sophie’s Choice it ain’t. But if you’re willing to forego such trifles as a solid, believable plot, or clear, well-developed characters, this flick will do the trick to release your inner “Dancing Queen.”
Sounds good to me!
Never listened to ABBA, never saw the play, have no intention to see MAMMA MIA really…
BUT, I must say its theatrical trailer was probably the best cut and energetic of all the summer movies.
That must count for something.
Speaking of Brosnan…..odd someone brought him up, because I just Netflix an early movie of his in NOMADS, the directorial debut of John McTiernan (DIE HARD, PREDATOR)…..doesn’t work really as a style-over-story horror show, but its an interesting idea, and the ending rocks.
Too bad McTiernan is in jail.
Peter Bradshaw is an idiot… He never likes anything fun. I’m glad there are films out there where one doesn’t need to think so much. You can just go the movies, have a great time, sing along, and be happy. You will leave this movie feeling great.
Not to mention Meryl Streep, the greatest actor of our time, is absolutley amazing in it. She just reminds us why she’s the best and can do just about anything.
I’m keeping an open mind too, RichardA. I’m not an ABBA fan, but I’m a Meryl fan. She was on Letterman last night, and I will have to say, I wish the clip had been half as good as the interview.
(Brosan on The Daily Show, and during his clip my ears folded up like scrunchy little fists on either side of my head until I scolded them for being so snobby.)
I’ve been looking forward to this movie because, it’s ABBA and Colin Firth.
I’ve seen the Broadway show and it’s all right with an awesome opening to the second act. And I have a the original production recording (that’s UK), and it’s pretty awesome. So, to prime myself with the movie, I bought the movie soundtrack, and I wish, I wish that they had spent more time in training these actors to sing, a little more. I know it’s ABBA songs and it’s all karaoke type, but it makes a difference on the track.
But, good thing that these are charismatic actors that can make up for their lack of musicality with their pre-fab personalities.
Still looking forward to it. 56% RT is nothing. There’s a cool factor in hating ABBA; so I’m just disregarding those. I’ll see it because I just do not see enough of Julie Walters and Christine Baranski.
Also, Colin Firth.