Pierce Brosnan was DREADFULLY BAD. A horrible, horrible casting choice. Every time he sang, I had to prevent myself from bursting out in laughter.

Amanda Seyfried was really good (and adorable). She added a really nice emotional punch to the film, too. She was the only actor who felt genuine.

Peace,
Mike

The very definition of an average modern movie musical.

(Yep, I just looked up "musical" in my new desk dictionary and the first definition was indeed Mamma Mia)...

Very bland, very predictable, very whitebread - - but still somewhat enjoyable, somewhat fun, somewhat romantic.

Luckily, Meryl Streep can sing, though it seemed to drain a large percentage of her usual acting ability out of her.

Unfortunately, the same can't be said for Pierce Brosnan who hacked his way through his big brassy SOS number, and passably sang his ballad. Colin Firth had less opportunity to crash and burn on the back of his vocal cords, but none of the male leads was adding much except for their looks, even including the usually reliable Stellan Skarsgård.

Perhaps those who fared best were Julie Walters and Christine Baranski who seemed to be having a ball in their capital "B", BROAD roles - - they were heaps of fun.

I have no wish to ever see it again, but it was an okay night at the show...

3 out of 5.

OMG, Michael, Michael, Michael - - snap out of it man...

I like Mamma Mia! over Hairspray too. I can't bring myself to watch Hairspray again. It was good and all, but it's not rewatable. Mamma Mia! i can't wait to see again this weekend

Heh.

The more I think about this film the more I dislike it. Aside from Amanda Seyfried's wonderful performance I was disappointed - and I usually love musicals.

hmm, i went in with low expectations and thought it was pretty solid, as i said. i'm giving it a pass - it made me laugh my ass off, but more because of the fact that it was fuckin' abba....

in terms of craft, it was, indeed, a disaster. but it's still so fun...

hey, we all have our guilty pleasures. i proudly own this one

i think enjoying this movie is directly linked to how sociable you are with the masses.
I mean is clearly designed for a mass audience and the characters here, particularly the british ones, are very working-class-new-money sorts. If you can go into a film and look at a film that says "hey, this isnt a polished, technical masterwork, and some of these bitches are going to be RIDICULOUS, so you can either accept that and have fun or just fuck off" and actually enjoy it then I guess MAMMA MIA is going to be a winner for you.

I feel so much of the "light" entertainment movies right now end up sucking serious ass, so im glad MAMMA MIA brought the summer feelings back in the same way that equally campy CHARLIES ANGELS 2 did for me back in 2003.

Infact, MAMMA MIA felt like an extension of FULL THROTTLE's best scene - Hammer Time, meets the slowmo ending with Journey. That is a good thing since i smiled ear to ear through both scenes.

I agree. This movie is such an outrageous and over-the-top campfest, you almost can't compare it to other movie musicals. Like, in my opinion, Hairspray was much better (I mean, I LOOOOOOVED Hairspray) but its not nearly as campy as Mamma Mia.

I bought the soundtrack today.

^ agree with this. I adore ABBA. I never saw the stage play so I have no idea how the movie compares to it, but take the ABBA songs out and you can't ignore the many flaws.

But again, I wanted to hear ABBA, see some fun interpretations, and I got that. Meryl Streep and Amanda were nice surprises.

Really?!? I thought it was played pretty straight (for a musical)...

It's campy in the way the songs are done. I love ABBA and I enjoyed the movie. Just for the songs though, which are well done.

And note: Hairspray is SOOOOOO rewatchable. Psh. 10 times now.

Well:

1) Meryl's disembodied head floating around during a portion of the "Money, Money, Money" number, and then her Titanic pose on the boat

2) The entire town joining in on "Dancing Queen." Even the men.

3) The crazy ass camerawork during "Gimme Gimme Gimme"

4) The hundreds of oiled, muscular men dancing around on the pier during "Lay All Your Love on Me"

It was totally campy and over-the-top, I thought. But I liked that about it.

Standard issue musical stuff. Especially as it was used in the song sequences only. Don't get me wrong, I liked some of the aspects you listed above, but the overall tone of the movie itself was as straight as straight can be...

This film caused me to think the cinema seats where going to commit mass murder, I wouldn't call that straight Bradford I'd call that LSD barmy.

Just thought I'd randomly say how much I like Brosnan's singing again. Nice to see a real person singing no matter how cracked, and also Amanda Seyfried did not "knock one out of the park".

The Titanic moment was fucking hilarious. I nearly cried laughing.

The Lay all Your Love on me acting from the fiancee was so blatantly ridiculous. And i liked how there was a quite obviously gay black cabana boy cast as a romantic interest.

Ugh, Amanda Seyfried was a lot of why this movie worked.
Without Streep, Seyfried and Walters, this movie could have gone down a very different, not as successful path.

Brosnan was meh, his voice sounded strained.

Never really clicked for me, but I found it to be pretty fun.

B

I was trying to draw out a KJ exile with that post Mike. I failed

MAMMA MIA (2008)

"Mamma Mia" is some of the most fun you'll have at the movies this summer. It's silly, over-the-top, and fun as hell. It's nice and colorful, and the location is insanely beautiful. Meryl Streep was wonderful. She really lets go and has a ball, and the fun that her and the rest of the cast seem to be having is infectious. Christine Baranski and especially Julie Walters are an absolute hoot as the best friends of Meryl's character. Amanda Seyfried is cute, and this should be a breakout role for her. Out of the males, Colin Firth was the most entertaining. Pierce Brosnan cannot sing to save his life. People in the audience actually started to laugh when he would sing.

The sold out audience ate it up as well. There was so much energy in the audience. Someone even stood up and started dancing. When it was over there was even clapping, and one woman (out of a huge group that went) said they had to go back and see it again for someone's Birthday. Nobody left during the end credit musical numbers.

My favorite musical numbers were probably, "Money, Money, Money," "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)," "Mamma Mia," and "Take A Chance on Me."

This is easily better than the highly overrated "Hairspray." The friend I saw it with agreed too and she said this is the best movie she's seen in ages (and she usually doesn't even like musicals). I myself wouldn't go that far, but it's hard to imagine a recent one that was this much fun. It would be impossible to leave this movie without a smile on your face. It's a total pick-me-up.

If I were to rate this based purely on an entertainment level, it would probably be an A. But as an actual film, I have to go a little lower. It's not great filmmaking, but it's very, very fun fluff.

Grade: 8/10 (B+)

I find it interesting that those who love Mamma Mia seem to make a point of saying they didn't enjoy Hairspray - - what could it mean?

I like ABBA's songs a lot, but that's basically the only thing the movie has it going for it. The direction and execution left a lot to be desired. Half way through the film, I wanted to close my eyes and simply listen to the songs; too campy and over the top for me. Still prefer the style of Chicago and Hairspray more. B-.

That like three people who loved Mamma Mia didn't like Hairspray?

For the record, I loved Hairspray and liked Mamma Mia a lot.