Ive never met a mum who didnt like the film version of ABBA musical Mamma Mia.
You can see why; it blasted them back to a past when you could leave the house in a spangly jumpsuit and dance to Waterloo in a club even if it wasnt Cheese Night. And at heart, it was a mother-daughter love story that spoke about the importance of sacrifice and female friendship, all set on the sort of fantasy island in Greece that every jaded housewife since Shirley Valentine has dreamed of running away to.
For this sequel, they opted to up the mum appeal even further, hiring Richard Curtis to help pen the story; his fee must have been so high they had to kill Meryl Streeps character off. Donna is dead as a doornail and her daughter Sophie has realised her mums dream of turning their crumbling yet charming shack into a five star boutique hotel.
Once youve watched an entire Parisian brasserie sing Waterloo, complete with Admiral Nelson plumage, you know this is a film complicit in its own irony
While she prepares for the grand opening, were treated to a prequel within a sequel, a series of flashbacks starring Lily James as a young Donna. Fresh from the campest Oxford University graduation ceremony in its 922-year history, she travels around Europe trying to find her destiny, but ends up alone and pregnant on the island, not knowing which of her three summer lovers is the father.
James is bewitching as Donna and shes got a decent singing voice to boot. In fact, the entire young cast play their more famous counterparts with buckets of charisma and a self-awareness that allows even cooler-than-thou viewers to laugh along. Once youve watched an entire Parisian brasserie sing Waterloo, complete with Admiral Nelson plumage, you know this is a film complicit in its own irony.
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And just when you think its reached unprecedented levels of kitsch, Cher – actual Cher – appears in a gleaming white suit, like an angel sent from the diva gods, to sing Fernando like she wrote it herself and was just waiting for the right moment to perform it, wearing the biggest wig she owns.
If that sounds like your worst nightmare in flared trousers, stay away. But if its a summer fling youre after, full of love, laughter and people dancing on boats, then they dont come any more heartfelt and joyous than this.
