Who would think that the music of a little Swedish pop band could cross continents and generations, but throw on “Dancing Queen” in a crowded room and see how many hit the dancefloor. ABBA’s music is so popular that it was no big thing for Mamma Mia! to hit over $600M worldwide. The all-star cast led by Meryl Streep, Colin Firth, and Julie Walters didn’t hurt, either. And now a decade later the whole gang is back with more ABBA-inspired tales of romance in the appropriately-titled Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again.
This cross-generational story brings back Streep, Walters, Firth, Christine Baranski, Stellan Skarsgard, Pierce Brosnan, Amanda Seyfried, and Dominic Cooper, along with new additions Lily James, Jeremy Irvine, Hugh Skinner, Alexa Davies, Josh Dylan, and Jessica Keenan Wynn as younger versions of their characters. The first movie was based on the Broadway musical about a young bride who discovers that her father is one of three men who are still trying to win over her mother. The sequel jumps back and forth through time to reveal how Streep’s character learned to raise a child on her own, while also showing how all of their relationships formed and grew over time.
Based on this trailer it looks just as infectious and over-crowded as the first. The only way you can swallow how much these movies throw at the audience is with plenty of ABBA to wash it down. I’m pretty sure Streep’s character is dead in this one, too, or at least this footage heavily teases it. Then again I wouldn’t put it past these movies to be pulling a fast one. Oh, and Cher is in this, too, as a very well-dressed but uninvited grandma.
Directed by Ol Parker, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again opens July 20th 2018.
