Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again
WARNING : Spoilers forMamma Mia ! Here We Go Again .
Mamma Mia ! Here We Go Againcontains a bunch ofABBA coversand one massive shocker : Meryl Streep ’s Donna has die . Across all thetrailersfor the film , which is both a sequel and prequel to 2008’sMamma Mia , the inquiry of where Streep is has hulk large . Her older Donna ( play in the prequel element ofMamma Mia 2by Lily James ) was glimpsed , but only in archive footage from the first movie . The patch was thickened when nobody involve would say anything about the three - time Oscar achiever ’s role , yet Streep was still present in both the bill and at the film ’s world premiere .
Now the film ’s arrived , however , the true statement is out . Donna Sheridan die a year beforeMamma Mia ! Here We Go Again , itself correct five years after the firstMamma Mia!We do n’t check the circumstances of her death , with director Ol Parker instead putting the focus on the hole she leaves behind : daughter Sophie ( Amanda Seyfried ) is attempting to respect her remembering by reopening her hotel yet bog down by ego - doubt ; married man Sam ( Pierce Brosnan ) looks back on his tenner - ago betrayal of her trust with unreciprocated rue ; best friends Tanya ( Christine Baranski ) and Rosie ( Julie Walters ) are throw off yet attempt to move onward .
Related : Read Our Mamma Mia ! Here We Go Again Review
Streep finally turns up in the final scene for a phantasmagoric ( and give the spontaneous ABBA dancing , that ’s enunciate something ) scene where she metaphysically espouse Sophie at her granddaughter ’s christening , symbolically passing the Sheridan flashlight , then steps outside , leaving those mourn her to lionize this new living . It ’s a strikingly sincere minute forMamma Mia , one that underscores the duology ’s message of relationships and experience being the real meaning behind animation , as well as interject theLily James - fronted flashbackswith retroactive greater meaning . Streep then helps lead a whole - ensemble natural covering of " Super Trouper " over the movie ’s credits .
Now , this is a very strange setup . Unlike like bequest - quels , Mamma Mia ! Here We Go Againuses Donna ’s death not as a surprise but an inciting incident , with it laid down in the first fifteen minutes . And yet the mortal playing her nevertheless appear in the movie . This is n’t a case of an thespian pass up to turn back to a subsequence ( and , as Streep appears in scenes involving the full hurl , scheduling does n’t appear to be a problem either ) , rather a pointed narrative decision .
Indeed , speaking toVulture , Parker tell that the death plot equipment occur fromThe Godfather Part IIconceit . Once Richard Curtis ' girl Scarlett had suggested going into Donna ’s past tense and dramatizing her diary from the first film , there was no other story for the sequel . However , the writers could n’t ascertain a way to justify it that did n’t have Donna beat ; the audience ’s journeying into the past became part of the fictional character ' recollections , and the parallels between Sophie and her female parent more point . Streep was more than happy to toy along , leading to the continuation getting a much strong emotional throughline than the knockabout original ( which , lest we forget , is about a girl trying to cypher out which of three adult male are her beginner ) . In that linguistic context , the trailers playing coy over Streep ’s amour and plot of ground role make a lot more gumption ; while it is n’t a freebooter , it ’s at the center of the picture show , something that is best preserved .
It ’s a selfless continuation move that mean , whileMamma Mia ! Here We Go Againis very much more of the same ( just with lesser - known ABBA Sung for the most part ) and tell a know story , it feel oddly fresh .
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