Remember the first "Mamma Mia"? On a fictitious Greek island, people sang and danced day and night, as if the outside world and all their worries were non-existent. It felt like a party that would never end—its excitement, enthusiasm, and fullness. The overflowing sense of happiness makes people can't help but wriggle with Donna's trio, and sing "Dancing Queen" with selflessness. This is a purely joyous movie.
In fact, I was a little surprised that the sequel took ten years before it was released when movies and musicals were so popular. For many series, when the market is still hot, it’s not unusual to shoot three episodes in a row in five years; and "Mamma Mia 2" really made movie fans and fans wait for a long time. While recalling all the original crew, It also added new big names (such as Oscar actress Cher as Donna’s mother and Andy Garcia as the hotel manager) and created a lot of new sparks. The most important thing is that it does not fool the audience in the story. Starting from Donna’s past, it enriches this core and most touching character, making it not only a sequel that fans can’t miss, but also a pretty good song and dance film.
Speaking of this, spoilers are unavoidable-the story is set in the fifth year after the first episode. Sophie succeeded her mother Donna and became the owner of the Island Hotel. Grand opening party. In this tense and expectant situation, Sophie has always been preoccupied, she has not had the silly and carefree smile five years ago-the story is only here, and the dialogue naturally elicits it. , Donna passed away a year ago. Because it was not mentioned in the trailer at all, I was shocked to speak, and I never expected that the sequel would have such a radical change. However, this topic ends here, without mentioning why Donna died, what has happened in the past five years, what has changed in the hotel, and so on. Everything suddenly went back to 1979. Donna talked about it when she graduated from Oxford University: She suddenly sang during her graduation speech, and she knew she was the school’s god of singing and dancing. After graduation, she suddenly sang. He resolutely said goodbye to the two friends, packed his bags and started traveling aimlessly, just to find the perfect place in his heart, a free and unrestrained person.
In fact, the role of Donna in the first episode is more of a legendary and mysterious feeling. Because the story is told from people to middle age, the passions, wanderings, love encounters, and romances of a young age can only be described by paragraphs of dialogue or a piece of song, just like a puzzle, here one piece, There is one piece; this effect is naturally limited, and a lot of words are not as convincing as a scene and a smile from a living person. Lily James took over Meryl Streep's mantle. This task is not easy, but she did it perfectly! Although she is a British beauty and her usual image is very elegant and ladylike, this time she used her particularly contagious smile and singing voice to bring to life an American lady who pursued freedom and happiness to the ends of the world. She was once a mezzo-soprano singer, and Amanda Seyfried (Cosette in "Les Miserables"), who is also very good at singing. The two beauties are passionate and melancholy in the movie. The timeline is interspersed with the past and reality naturally intertwined. In the end, the mother and daughter have crossed the time to maintain their feelings together, returning to the same emotional footing as the first episode.
If many of the song and dance scenes in the first episode seemed lengthy and did not help the plot, it was because the plot was too thin. After Sophie’s line of seeking her father was cleared up early, she could only add more supporting single-player singing and dancing passages to fill the time, which would naturally distract the audience. But the story of "Mamma Mia 2" is much richer, and it can be said that the role of Donna has been completely reshaped. Extending from the various small details in the first episode, the screenwriters have bold imaginations.
Donna, played by Meryl Streep, is not only a cheerful woman who likes to sing. It is very hard to raise her daughter to support the hotel alone, and she has a wealth of various experiences when she was young. She has a three-person singing group. When I came to settle on a small island in Greece, I had feelings with Harry, Bill, and Sam at the same time, but none of them were able to achieve a positive result. Even the daughter’s biological father was not sure who it was, which caused most of her life’s guilt. , Sophie has always been worried. In the end of the first episode, although it was not clear who was the "he", everyone was reunited again, and Donna and Sam rebuilt the old ones. It doesn't matter who the father is. Having said so much, in fact, Donna’s past is just a few words. As for what happened, it can only be imagined. The screenwriter of the second episode seized this god-given opportunity and set the background of several male protagonists. The character is very complete. For example, Harry met him in a Paris hotel. He was originally shy and shy, but he met Donna at first sight, and even followed her to Greece; Bill rescued Donna who had missed the ship in the harbor. I spent romantic days and nights with her; and Sam, a confused young man shackled by a rebellious family, lived in a shed on an island to escape reality, and naturally fell in love with Donna who thought the same. Coupled with the three young actors who looked like Colin Firth, Pierce Brosnan and Strand Skarsgard, they were brilliant and youthful and invincible. Each paragraph is so different but very romantic. Indeed It’s no surprise that Donna falls in love with anyone! The whole movie does not have an obvious main storyline, but this period of memories evoked by the scenery on the island, the furnishings of the hotel, and the memories of her daughter makes Donna more vivid: this movie is completely dedicated to her. If we say that in the first episode, we love Donna’s enthusiasm and singing. In this episode, we see her more fragile and determined side, as well as the romantic spirit of pursuing freedom for a lifetime. We have to say that we finally found that we really If I want to say goodbye to her, I can't help but want to cry-and this is a song and dance film that makes people laugh and feel happy.
I have to mention that the song and dance arrangement of the sequel has been greatly improved, and there are many things to watch. In the first episode, since the actors are not from professional singing and dancing backgrounds, it is inevitable that they have no advantage in singing and their coordination of actions is also limited. Therefore, more methods of showing the actors' facial expressions were used in the filming to let their emotions infect the audience. , And achieved good results. But in this one, because of the increase in young actors, the professionalism has been enhanced; in terms of singing, the multi-person singing will always alternate several parts, which adds a lot of layering; but the director of photography Robert D. Yeoman can be said to be the most indispensable : He is Wes Anderson's royal photography. "Moonrise Kingdom" and "Budapest Hotel" are all his works. Fans who are familiar with Anderson will definitely be impressed by the cartoon effect caused by the movement of the characters and the collision of colors. This time, "Mamma Mia 2" also borrowed his wild imagination. Among them, the conversation between Harry and Donna in the Paris cafe is the most impressive. This song alone is enough to be dazzling and pleasing to the eye.
In the first episode, Sophie, who looks for her biological father and thinks that she can get the meaning of life, finally finds that the relationship between herself and her mother is the most indispensable. The mother and daughter reconciled at the wedding scene, which is touching. In this episode, I returned to the small church on the top of the island. The difference is that this time it was the baptism ceremony of Sophie's newborn child. When her new life came, she felt the blessing that her mother had left but was always guarding her. At this time, Meryl also appeared for the first time in the film to sing and said goodbye to her daughter and the audience with a smile. It's like a meal of sweet, bitter, spicy and salty meals, and finally a tear gas suddenly appeared, and many fans couldn't resist crying on the spot.
The cast that is strong enough to guard against the sky is also one of the biggest highlights of this series. In the last part, if you still have a little shadow of your youth, everyone in this part is completely middle-aged, with gray hair. , The receding hairline, and drooping cheeks have all become self-taught fun. Harry, played by actor Colin Firth, came out bravely in the last episode and became the biggest highlight in the last episode. This episode can't be left behind, so he has become a group joke since he was on the island, regardless of whether he played "Titan" with Bill. The flying posture of "Nick" "My Heart Is Eternal", or the look of wanton twisting in spite of the tight suit, is absolutely hilarious. I sincerely hope that Uncle Face can perform more relaxed love comedies like this in the future. However, this time because the focus of the story is on Donna, the supporting roles are not too many compared to the previous episode. Fortunately, the final film still has a big move, and the actress and the singer Cher are invited as the finale surprise. , Playing Sophie’s grandmother, is also a legendary character. Although she has already appeared in the trailer, she really speaks, her graceful voice is still intoxicating, and she has to admit that Jiang is still old and spicy. In the last episode, Pierce Brosnan, who accidentally won the worst actor of the Golden Plum Blossoms, obviously hasn't practiced much in the past ten years. Just sang two or three sentences, which exposed his characteristic that he is still incomplete...
The movie ended in Abba's famous song "Super Trouper". All the young and middle-aged actors gathered together. "Meeting the future self" can be said to be the biggest easter egg for movie fans. It was indeed appropriate to say goodbye to Donna with such a movie, but it made people fall in love with her again, and felt 10,000 in her heart.
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WX: Rice Cinema
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