CINEMA: Mamma Mia! The Movie

How a film so absolutely, furiously and gloriously tacky as this contrives to be so much fun is beyond me, but it really doesn’t matter because Mamma Mia! is a surefire, fantabulous hit.

Director Phyllida Lloyd has stayed true to the original stage musical so every move and gesture is bigger than life, but it doesn’t seem to matter because the Greek scenery is so gorgeous, the songs so catchy, and the cast so obviously having the time of their lives you’ll be smiling and singing along before you can stop yourself.

For those who don’t know, Mamma Mia! is set around the impending nuptials of Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) and Sky (Dominic Cooper) on the remote Greek island where Sophie’s single mum Donna (Meryl Streep) runs a boarding house. Donna has invited her best mates and one time singing buddies Tanya (Christine Baranski) and Rosie (Julie Walters) to the wedding, but what she doesn’t know is Sophie has also secretly invited the three men who could be her father (Donna’s never told her who her dad is because she doesn’t know herself).

As Sam (Pierce Brosnan), Bill (Stellan Skarsgard) and Harry (Colin Firth) arrive the fun begins and the singing – which starts in scene one – reaches a crescendo. The storyline is preposterous, some of the singing atrocious, the outcome utterly predictable, and the whole endeavour resembles nothing more than one of the worst music videos ever, containing every cliché in the book. But none of that matters as the result is one huge, great Bacchanalian romp. There’s dancing, singalong tracks like Money, Money, Money, Dancing Queen and Take A Chance On Me, Pierce Brosnan gets his shirt off and Colin Firth gets to play the guitar.

If this doesn’t get your foot tapping then you’re a party pooper who doesn’t deserve to have this much fun at the cinema. Against all the odds loving Abba has just become cool – and not even in a weird, post-ironic way.     

Dee Pilgrim