Mamma Mia Review--I'm a theatre person, so it's kinda mean.

Rating: 8/10 (26 July 2008)

I had the pleasure of seeing the new film based on the musical Mamma Mia, sharing it's name. From my first sentence you can clearly tell I went in having prior knowledge of the stage musical and so, similar to reading a novel prior to a film, I was let down by the variations in plot and characters as well as my favorite comic relief moments from the play.
I know, I'm a theatre snob, so stop reading now if you hate that, because I'm totally one of those who thinks musicals should be made into movies if they keep the script exactly the same and have good actors and actresses playing the roles.
***SOME SPOILERS*** Speaking of which, the cast in the film was good at best. The actress who portrayed Sophie was wonderful, I enjoyed her pure voice that was one of few that didn't sound computer generated, and her acting was sincere and adorable. Meryl Streep on the other hand; I did not care for her.
The role of Donna is much to young to be played by a 60-year-old looking Streep. Donna was supposed to have had Sophie when she was young (obvious by the diary entries and such) and Sophie is only supposed to be about 20. Therefore Donna Should at most look 40. Streep looked every day of her real age, however and it threw off the plot for me. Additionally, she was incredibly stiff and I do not know whether it was the choreography or her lack of ability to perform it that i disliked, but I never found pleasure watching her sing because her movements were mechanical at best.
Plus, because Donna's age seemed upped a bit, her suitors were older as well. This was actually not too bad, because you can see her having a thing for older men possibly, however, the pictures they show of their "hippie days" make them appear older. AND! If Donna was a young mom in the 60's (hippies), her daughter would be 40. The whole point of the show, is to have her big in the 80's (ABBA's generation).
Either way, back to her suitors played by Colin Firth, Pierce Brosnin, and the Australian guy. I thoroughly enjoyed Colin Firth, his voice was very clear and beautiful, definitely what I wanted to see. The song "Our Last Summer" was my favorite thanks to him. However, the primary suitor, Sam (Brosnin's character), seemed a little off to me. The acting was great! As is any movie acting, however this was a musical. Brosnin's voice was not horrible, actually it was pretty good, but like Meryl Streep's I could not focus on his voice because he looked almost uncomfortable when he was singing. He normally plays such a sexy mature man and when he sings he just can't hold on to that.
The other roles such as the aunts and Sky were played very well. I wouldn't say to perfection, but they were done correctly. However, yet again because Streep's age difference, her friends were older as well. Yet, they appeared much more similar to those in the play than any other of the movie character. Sky was definitely attractive, sincere, and sweet and his voice was captivating. However, I don't completely remember if there was this resolution in the stage show, but I feel like we needed to see why Sky forgave Sophie; he just shows up at the wedding when the last thing they did was fight. I wanted some sort of small thing for him.
Now to the movie itself; as compared to the play, it was mediocre (it cut my favorite bits: Head banger and Take a Chance on Me in the Chapel); however, as strictly a movie musical, it was very good. I disliked a good portion of the choreography because there wasn't much and it was all sexually suggestive or stiff or just nothing special. The music was great, it sounded a little computer-y at parts, but was primarily good.
All in all, it was a good film, but I definitely suggest the play more. And it's casting does bring me back to my belief that musicals should be cast for talent in all 3 major areas (singing, dancing, acting) not on their marketable ability or place in the celebrity hierarchy; I believe that's why the character of Sophie was so well played- because she was cast for ability not because of her fame *cough* *cough* streep.... I do suggest it more than any other musical based film, but as I said, I still like the play more.