Just like ABBA's music, you'll either really like or just hate this movie.

Rating: 7/10 (3 November 2011)

Right after having seen this movie I still feel like I could go either way on it. I could completely pick this movie apart and blast it for its silly story, weak directing and whatever more but truth is that this movie is simply harmless fun, that you can either hate on or just surrender yourself to.
Maybe it will also depend on your mood on how you'll see this movie. Guess I was in the right mood, since I'm really willing to give this movie the benefit of the doubt.
It's a true happy-go-lucky and cheerful looking movie, that you obviously shouldn't take very seriously. I see this movie as basically a great one to have a fun time with and for a while makes you forget everything you might had on your mind.
Don't tell anybody else but sometimes I can be quite fond of ABBA music, so I was never opposed to the idea of a musical movie featuring most of the ABBA evergreens. As a matter of fact, I though it was a great idea! So how did it work out in the movie? Only half successfully I feel. They were of course very depended on already existing songs, that were never supposed to be part of one big musical or movie in this case. Some songs fit really well into the movie, while others seem a bit forced in and actually have very little to do with what is happening on the screen.
It also was quite annoying and weird at times how fast some of the songs were following each other. There are moments in the movie that they perform 3 musical numbers in a row, without a real break between them. That's just crazy! Even for normal musical movie standards. It also seems like more songs got crammed in as the movie was heading toward its ending. It was like the movie was saying in its first half; here we set up the story and characters and in the second half; here we can go crazy with all of the songs and forget all about the story!
Overall the songs are all performed quite well, even though the choreography, for musical standards, isn't really anything impressive to look at. I'm also afraid not all of the actors had the best singing voices. I really like Stellan Skarsgård, Pierce Brosnan and Colin Firth and all but the movie should had never allowed them to sing! Sorry to say but their talents obviously lay elsewhere. Luckily the female cast seemed to have less problems with this and also luckily they are the ones that do most of the singing in this movie.
I really can see and understand that this is not a great movie by any means but it's nevertheless perfectly fun and harmless to watch, if you're in the right mood and can handle the funky Swedish sounds of the ABBA music.
7/10
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