Three Dads and A Wedding

Rating: Null/10 (19 July 2008)

Phyllida Lloyd's 'Mamma Mia' is a lighthearted energetic musical shot in Greece and an English Studio. It's nowhere near 'Moulin Rouge' or 'Chicago'. It's a tribute to Abba and it's so bad that it's funny. Most of the song sequences, especially those featuring Streep, her backup girls Julie Walters and Christine Baranski and the three dads are well executed and hilarious. The only song that I felt was horribly filmed was the one at the beach between Sky and Sophie. The actors (except Pierce Brosnan and the younger cast) do a good singing job. Well, the singing itself certainly isn't of professional standards but it fits the characters and the general mood of the scene even though Brosnan is laughably bad. The non-Abba songs are totally misplaced and unnecessary. One such example is Madonna's 'Hung Up' which is repeatedly played in the background.
Meryl Streep is the heart of 'Mamma Mia'. This is perhaps one of most energizing performance and she seems to naturally exude vibrant energy like a teenager on adrenaline. Her singing isn't particularly first rate but she so hot! Julie Walters is excellent as always and she provides some of the funniest moments. Christine Baranski is equally great and she too has an entire hilarious song. The three actresses give a great performance of 'Super Trooper' that almost reaches the heights of the classic musical moment like Rachel Griffiths and Toni Collette's 'Waterloo' sequence in 'Muriel's Wedding'. Amanda Seyfried is good but she doesn't have any chemistry with Dominic Cooper (thankfully he doesn't have much screen time because he's awful). As the three dads, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth and Stellan Skarsgård fit their parts but except for Sam Carmichael, the other two characters aren't well fleshed out.
While 'Mamma Mia!' is silly, the plot is very clichéd and predictable and it gets messy in the middle. Most of the song sequences are fun to watch. It's also one of those films, you may enjoy while watching but once the end credits have rolled, there's hardly much that resonates and this isn't something I would voluntarily revisit. Even though 'Moulin Rouge' had a sketchy plot, it was the execution, the songs, the charming characters, the art direction and the overall treatment of the story among many other things, that made the film unique while 'Chicago' had all of that and an engaging story. Even 'Hairspray' stands on its own because of the whole colourful 60's feel and the message it delivers. Unfortunately, 'Mamma Mia' lacks such substance and it is most likely to be forgotten amidst other musicals. Only time would tell.