Not what I was expecting....

Rating: 6/10 (15 July 2008)

**Not sure about the spoiler thing but to make sure I added it.**
Being a musician for 23 years I have grown to admirer musicals and those who create them in their complexity and brilliance and exactly what it takes to create a successful work of art. ABBA was a group that I grew up loving and pretty much enjoy every song they came out with. They were the masters at pop songs, throwing out hit after hit. Like other modern musicals I enjoy not only the music but the stories behind the music. So like recent film adaptations of some modern musicals(Phantom Of The Opera, Rent, etc.) I was looking forward to this movie.
Overall a fairly close portrayal of the theater production at least as far as the story line goes. Some of the songs are clipped and rearranged sightly as it seems all movie musicals do. Which is sad, as the songs were perfect as they were. The movie moves at a rabid pace throughout moving from song to song. The acting is enjoyable with Amanda Seyfried and Meryl Streep taking center stage, but I will say Julie Walters steals every single scene she is in, she is amazingly funny. The singing is bearable by everyone with Christine Baranski producing the most polished voice. Though there were a few ear numbing moments Pierce Brosnan voice wasn't as bad as some others have said. He stays in key for the most part, but his voice is very raw, and he has zero control over it. The scenery was breath taking and beautiful, just like I remember from my trips so long ago.
My only complaint is the cutting of some songs. I wont say which, but they are big numbers at least in my mind. Cutting them works with the flow of the movie, but for someone like me, the songs that were cut were some of my favorites and to see them missing swayed my vote. It was like cutting Music Of The Night from Phantom of the opera or Rent from Rent, well to me that is. They could have easily added twenty minutes to the film and fit in all the missing songs, or at least the big numbers.
Overall I give the film a 6.5/10, 8/10 if they would have added/not cut the few songs I most wanted to hear.