The best worst movie of 2008?

Rating: 8/10 (20 July 2008)

There is no reason on God's green earth why Mamma Mia should work. The camera work is below par, The editing is clumsy at best and it is mostly embarrassingly camp. Yet somehow Mamma Mia completely transcends it's inherent awfulness into becoming one of the year's most surprisingly entertaining movies. You could attribute it's appeal to the music of ABBA, Which today still holds up as some of the greatest pop songs of all time, But the cast also make the movie what it is. Meryl Streep is shamefully melodramatic, Amanda Seyfried could probably give Wall-E a run for his money in the adorable and cute department and Pierce Brosnan does what does best, Which is being suave and debonair as one of Sophie's possible dads. (Look out for him, Stellan Skarsgard and Colin Firth showing an admirable lack of ego in the final end credits sing-a-long)Despite the movie's all too apparent flaws, Mammia Mia still displays a refreshing lack of self importance that made such modern musicals such as Chicago and Dreamgirls such a chore for this particular reviewer to watch. It obviously doesn't give a hoot for the Oscars. Mamma Mia could well be the first most self aware musical in recent history. It knows how absurd and silly it is and just runs with it. If you want a serious, Well crafted and challenging piece of cinema go watch The Dark Knight (I would actually recommend Christopher Nolan's latest over this anyday)But if you want a utterly insignificant but admittedly entertaining and sometimes very funny 120 minutes, Take a chance on Mamma Mia.