Mamma Mia! - Torture Too Cruel for Gitmo
Mamma Mia! F
Starring Meryl Streep, Amanda Seyfried, Colin Firth, and Pierce Brosnan
Directed by Phyllida Lloyd
Rated PG-13 for some sex-related comments
Appropriate for ages 15+
The Story: A young girl (Seyfried) is getting married in Greece, but before she does, she wants to discover who her real father is. When going through the diary of her mother (Streep), she discovers that it could be any of three different men. After she sends all three an invitation to her wedding, they all show up, not knowing why they are there.
The Good: It's hard to make an Island in the Mediterranean look ugly, so of course the cinematography is gorgeous. I also thought that the story itself wasn't too bad. If there weren't Abba songs sung every three minutes it might have been enjoyable.
I will admit that there were a lot of people at the screening that enjoyed it. If you are a rabid Abba fan, and you don't mind singing worse than a drunken karaoke bar, then you might actually have a good time.
The Bad: I was in physical pain from the first second to the last. I have never been an Abba fan, and dislike their songs very much, so needless to say I loathed the songs coming from a bunch of named actors that should not be listing singing on their talent resumes. Seyfried has a decent voice, and I might be able to take Streep in very small doses, but this much music, sung by so many bad vocalists, made me want to put myself on suicide watch.
Before you accuse me of someone who hates musicals, please remember, I thought that Sweeney Todd was the best film of 2007. Even though Sweeney didn't have the best singers, their voices didn't remind me fingernails on a chalkboard (a preferable alternative here). Also, Mamma Mia! isn't exactly Sondheim.
The Summary: The only way to make Abba songs sound worse than they already are is to have them spring forth from the mouths of Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan.
Hallo Danny
I grow up with music from ABBA. This movie is sooooooo terrible. If you wanna hear good music from ABBA, just listen the original, or the musical Mamma mia.
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