Saw Mamma Mia movie tonight- Page 2

[MuseOfComedy]

Posted: 7/13/08 at 8:29am

I saw it last week (in Australia) and was also disappointed. There were a lot of awkwardly cheesey moments, and I was also disappointed that no one blew me away with their talent. Meryl's singing was alright, not powerful. When Pierce sang, people started laughing because it sounds pretty bad, and I cringed multiple times. Sophie's performance was weak as well. The only things I loved were Julie's Rosie and the fact that they showcased how gorgeous Greece was.

[best12bars]

Posted: 7/13/08 at 8:49am

I had a group of friends see it last week at Outfest. Writers, actors, art directors, and one critic... and they were all disappointed.

I haven't seen it yet, so I didn't ask for details. I just heard that everything was lacking: direction, cinematography, Brosnan's singing, awkward transitions, and that the choreography was terrible.

Some liked it a little better than others, saying it was a good time at the movies, at least, but all of them had "a page of notes" at the end.

I'm still going to see it when it opens, but with low expectations.

[MrMidwest]

Posted: 7/13/08 at 11:13am

Another take on the film:

Mamma Mia! is a movie that, for the most part, succeeds purely in spite of itself. Phyllida Lloyd, the director of the Broadway stage version - it originated on London's West End - takes the reigns of this cinematic version in her film directorial debut and it clearly shows. There are plenty of rookie mistakes in Mamma Mia!, mistakes that I can't help but suspect may have easily been rectified if the producers had the foresight to hire an actual cinematic director. Of course, sometimes these sort of problems arise no matter who directs - take The Producers '05 and Rent, one directed by the stage director and one by a man who had been making films for multiple decade, yet they both shared similar problems.

It is unfortunately easy to question the filmmakers' abilities when there are visual effects so poor that when characters are framed against the distant ocean and you can actually see the water effects cutting into the actors' body. The staging of almost all of Mamma Mia!'s (many) musical scenes are just rudimentary and workmanlike, very much like they were crafted by somebody who wasn't too sure of what they were actually doing and thus decided to go for the safe route. Many scenes are filled with only two different kinds of shots - closeups and wideshots. We're constantly treated to only one person's face or the entire nation of Greece supporting cast. It's all very strange. One got the feeling that Lloyd didn't quite know how to film a musical sequence, much like Christopher Columbus when he made Rent.

And the choreography is, for the most part, simplistic. Lots of running - seriously, almost every musical number involves characters running up hills, running across the beach, running down the pier, running down stairs, running into rooms, running everywhere - and kicking, none of which seems to be in time (perhaps that is meant to be "charm"?) It all just feels a bit... lazy. Lazy choreography, lazy visual effects, lazy direction. There are even random moments when the film goes into slow motion. Because nothing says "Dancing Queen" like slow motion running...?

And then you have Pierce Brosnan who, it must be said, gives one of the most bizarre performances I've seen in a long time on the big screen. I almost feel like he deserves a prize for being that openly bad. Alas, he doesn't, yet he is. Incredibly bad. His acting scenes aren't exactly earth shattering - his scenes are always set up the exact same way, he comes running into frame saying "Donna!" - but his singing is, and I'm sorry if this is childishly offensive, woeful. Utterly woeful. The audience I saw the film with openly laughed at him. One song towards the end is butchered so badly I couldn't even recognise what song it was! Turns out it was "When All Is Said and Done", apparently. And his duet with Meryl Streep, "SOS" is ruined by his weird angry singing. It's mindboggling. The moment he opens his mouth it's like a bad Australian Idol audition.

But, speaking of Meryl Streep, here's where the film redeems itself. The cast, outside of Brosnan, is fantastic. Streep is clearly having a blast with the material and in the first half of the film she appears to have obviously had a few Chardies before leaving her trailer. And in the second and more dramatic half she really brings out the drama. She makes the abrupt about face that the film has seem plausible and warranted. Her rendition of "Slipping Through My Fingers" with Amanda Seyfried was the film's highlight for me.

Thankfully the majority of the film's music is performed by the female cast. Amanda Seyfriend's vocals are far less generic than I had anticipated. There's some really nice work there. Christine Baranski was also a highlight, and her highly camp version of "Does Your Mother Know" rescues the film from the Brosnan brutality of "SOS" just minutes earlier. Julie Walters is a hoot as usual and it's a shame her duet with Stellan Skarsgaard, "Take a Chance on Me" is upstaged by the surrounding goings on.

Skarsgaard comes out tops amongst the men even though he only gets the one opportunity to sing. Colin Firth's bizarre last minute character flip proves offputting even while remaining a crumpet (he's better looking in person, I must add). Dominic Cooper is a hottie, sure, but he is barely featured outside of a strangely PG-erotic version of "Lay Your Love On Me".

The Greek scenery is to die for, obviously, and if there's one upside of Lloyd's direction it is that she was at least able to transport the musical sequences around, unlike Rent or The Producers - films I actually like, I must add - which didn't utilise the cinema at all.

After all of this it really must sound like I didn't think much of the film, but that's not entirely true. Yes, it's sloppily made and there are more flaws than I care to point out, but the main reason anybody saw the original stage musical and now the film is the music. The songs by ABBA are the centrepiece, and they still work a treat. How could they not? They're ABBA. They're pretty hard to turn into garbage, after all. Throw in the spirited performances and the gorgeous scenery - even if it is blandly photographed - and they make for some of the breeziest two hours I've had recently at a cinema.

As a film I'm sure it deserves no more than a C, but for pure cinematic fluff I'm going to give it a B-

http://stalepopcornau.blogspot.com/2008/07/take-chance-on-abba.html

[James885]

Posted: 7/13/08 at 12:36pm

Very interesting reviews. So far, most of the reviews I've read agree that while the film visually stunning (except for the green screen stuff), it suffers from some directoral and camera issues, and that it's clear that the director is a novice. All of them agree that Meryl is great (as if there was any doubt!) and that Pierce Brosan cannot and should not be singing in this movie. I've never been a fan of the stage show, but I'll still be seeing this film just to see Meryl Streep sing and dance.

On a slightly different topic, is it just my imagination or has there not been a lot of coverage and featurettes on BWW about the movie, like there was when Hairspray and Sweeney Todd came out? I enjoyed going to the Hairspray and Sweeney megasites and looking at the segments and interviews on BWW TV, but there's not a lot of Mamma Mia stuff on to found. I wonder why?

[bundy5000]

Posted: 7/13/08 at 12:48pm

All In All most of the audience is not harsh movie critics and will overall enjoy the film. I am actually glad it is coming out the day the DARK KNIGHT is cause that is definitely not a family friendly show. But Mamma Mia will make the kids dance. And that I am grateful. I was surprised about the PG-13 Rating though.

[SNAFU]

Posted: 7/13/08 at 1:05pm

My take on why they are opening it the same weekend as The Dark Knight. They will always have that as an excuse as to why it didn't do well opening weekend, if it indeed does poorly.
If it opened alone and first weekend box office wasn't what was expected they would blame it on the film or the promotion. If they open it opposite Dark Knight, they always have, "What do you expect? DArk Knight opened the same weekend!"

[lesmis]

Posted: 7/13/08 at 1:10pm

I was at a local Regal multiplex theater last night and there weren't any posters or any other Mamma Mia ads visible. The Dark Knight ads were huge. One of my friends actually wondered if Mamma Mia was going to play there.

[hollywearsprada]

Posted: 7/13/08 at 6:52pm

See, here in England it's been the exact opposite, in my experience. There are hundreds of adverts, posters and trailers being shown everywhere for Mamma Mia. But I've not seen anything for TDK since I saw the teaser trailer before Sweeney Todd.

[sabrelady]

Posted: 7/13/08 at 7:08pm

I am SO cringing for Brosnan- Nicest guy around. Supposedly he asked Babs what she thought about his singing and she told him he could sing. When yer friends don't tell u...

Still I'll wait for Topkapi to come out for him to redeem himself.

[Patash]

Posted: 7/13/08 at 8:27pm

I haven't seen the film yet, and I may be proven wrong when I do, but reading between the lines of nearly everything I've read by everyone who has seen the movie is -- it's a piece of energetic, light, fun fluff. Who cares about the tiny cinematic flaws, the exact angle of camera framing, etc., etc. Is it wildly fun and entertaining? Apparently yes. Isn't that's all it needs to be?

[JP2]

Posted: 7/13/08 at 8:41pm

"Nothing will stop it being huge at the Summer box office I'm sure "

Maybe internationally but not domestically that is for sure. This movie wont make hairspray money.


I hate the broadway show with a passion, but the movie looks fun and I plan on seeing it. Meryl never disappoints. Still, I feel like Universal has a death wish opening this film against TDK.

[Eagleman]

Posted: 7/13/08 at 9:50pm

"Mamma Mia" is going to blow the doors of anything else that opens this summer.

It's amazing.

The musical has played in 170 venues. The group has sold more than 300,00,000
records and there are Abba fans by the millions who made these numbers possible, who will see the movie, and people still think the movie will go quietly into the night and be a "modest" success".

If history has taught us anything it's never underestimate the staying power of Abba.
They've already managed to do what the Beattles and The Who couldn't do--get a
musical produced that will probably break all the records before it closes sometime
20 years from now.

[JP2]

Posted: 7/13/08 at 10:24pm

Again, maybe internationally. This movie will be lucky if it makes $25 mill opeinging weekend here in the states.

[brettystar]

Posted: 7/14/08 at 1:30am

I have never seen the stage show - I have never had any interest in it whatsoever.

I saw the movie the other day and enjoyed it but I wish it had been directed by a film director and not the director the of the west end musical.

There were instances where the transition from talking to singing was awkward and makes one want to cringe.

However the parts that did work, worked wonderfully.

I do not think that Meryl Streep was very good (and I am a big fan of hers); her 'Winner takes it all' was absolutely awful.

Colin Firth was great.

I admit that I can see how it would have been fun to see on stage now.

[winston89]

Posted: 7/14/08 at 1:41am

Eeagleman,

You do realize that at lest in America this film most likely won't do well. I don't want people to think I am wishing this movie to do badly when I in fact am VERY much looking forward to it. I am just being realisitc when I see that it is opening up against The Dark Knight which will do better at the box office. I feel that Dark Knight might have also attracted an audience that wouldn't normally go see that kind of movie. And, that is people who want to see Ledger's last film.

I think that the studios on Mamma Mia's end want to use this particular opening weekend as a saftey net. I agree with what SNAFU said. I think that they are going to use this particular weekend to open up because if the movie does badly then they could say that that is what they get for opening the movie along side The Dark Knight.

Once again, I am not wishing this movie ill at all. I am just being realistic here.

[Greekmusicalfan]

Posted: 7/14/08 at 5:35am

"This movie will be lucky if it makes $25 mill opeinging weekend here in the states."

I'm sorry, but that's BAD for a movie musical for you ??????
Guys, the comparisons with Dark Knight are ridiculous ! The two films appeal to a completely different demographic ! Of course Dark Knight will be massive ! MM is no COMPETITION for DK, it is an ALTERNATIVE choice ! Also, DK will do all its massive business in 3-4 weeks like all Blockbusters, while MM, helped by good word of mouth, can be THE sleeper hit of the year and slowly rake them in till September ! I think it has the potential to do better than HAIRSPRAY and even CHICAGO and become the most succesful movie musical since GREASE !

[winston89]

Posted: 7/14/08 at 7:13am

I just can't see this being the biggest movie musical ever made. Keep in mind that the audiences for them ain't what they used to be. I understand where your comming from saying that people shouldn't compare The Dark Knight with mamma mia. But, the fact is it is hard not to when the two of them are opening up on the same day. However, I just don't see mamma mia doing that well. It will be lucky if they do reach the 25 mill mark. 25 mill is just considered okay for any movie doesn't matter what kind. And I don't think the studios are going to say "well we didn't reach a high mark but we should't have expected that after all we were making a movie musical." They are going to want thier film to do well no matter what kind of movie it is.

There is a good reason why they are opening it up on the same day as the dark knight and that is because if the movie doesn't do well they can blame it on when the movie opened rather then the movie itself.

And greekmusicalfan, in America studios look at the numbers for the opening weekend and that is how it has been for some time. The reason why people are comparing it to The Dark Knight is because it is clear that that movie would have better numbers and bring in more at the box office then Mamma Mia would.

[PitPro2004]

Posted: 7/14/08 at 8:44am

"Meryl Streep was amazing - her version of "Winner Takes It All" was showstopping, not because of the singing, but because of the acting."

Okay, I need an ABBA expert here. :)

I find it very interesting that this song made it into the movie because I had heard that it was supposed to be in Act II of CHESS when that show was being developed. I had heard that the reason that it never made the show was because the female half of ABBA had refused to allow it in the show being that it was an ABBA tune and not one that had been composed for the show. Any truth to that??

[winston89]

Posted: 7/14/08 at 11:55am

I think your right. But, I think the reason it was used in the movie version of Mamma Mia is because the movie is based on the show which has a score that is made up of Abba tunes.

[Patash]

Posted: 7/14/08 at 12:00pm

The Dark Knight? Never heard of it. What musical numbers are in it?

Got any good dance sequences?

[cubanpab]

Posted: 7/14/08 at 1:19pm

just saw it. awful. worse than i imagined. the actors are all very talented, except pierce brosnan, he should not sing... ever ever again. but what i think ruined the movie was the director. the directing was awful. bad bad cheesy 80's style directing. some of the directors choices actually made me say "what the hell was that?". so cheesy.

and i dont mind cheesy when it comes to musicals. but sometimes cheesy really only does work on stage. this is a prime example of a musical that doesnt transfer to the silver screen.

or maybe it does but the director just ruined it.

[uncageg]

Posted: 7/14/08 at 1:24pm

I entered the contest for the advanced screening and haven't heard anything so I guess I didn't win a pass. (The screening is tomorrow evening). So I probably won't see the movie. Haven't seen the show and don't really care to, but was going to give the movie a look if I got a pass for tomorrow.

[Greekmusicalfan]

Posted: 7/14/08 at 1:32pm

Winston, the studios, not only in America, but all over the world, look at TOTAL GLOBE REVENUES. Opening weekend numbers are for indicational and marketing and advertising purposes only. All the studios care about, is the money going in the bank at the end of the run ! And actually, the BIG revenues come from DVD sales nowadays ! There are films that stay in the Top 10 for months, even if they didn't have a great opening weekend. TITANIC became the Top grossing film ever, without a great first weekend, but because it did steady business week after week, while films with impressing first weekends, crash and burn after a couple of weeks !
MM doesn't have the expectations DK has and NEITHER did it COST the same, so the comparison is silly. It had to open someplace !!! If it wasn't the DK, it would be Indiana Jones, Iron-Man, Hulk, Wall-E, Hancok, etc...

[walkedthroughmany]

Posted: 7/14/08 at 1:55pm

I don't understand why everyone is expecting so much of this movie. Have you seen the stage version of the show? It's not "Sunday in the Park with George." It's "Mamma Mia!"...a musical based on the songs of ABBA...about a young girl with three possible fathers living on a magical Greek island. Why should you expect it to be a groundbreaking achievement in filmmaking? How could it not be full of awkward moments and borderline camp?

I think the director did a fine job of not pretending the movie was anything other than WHAT IT IS. If it took itself too seriously, everyone would be complaining that it tried too hard. I think the beauty is that it doesn't even have to try.

The stage version of "Mamma Mia!" was not critically well received, but look at those box office receipts. I don't think we have anything to worry about when it comes to its theatrical and DVD release. It's not perfect, groundbreaking, or particularly well-crafted in the first place, but I think "Mamma Mia!" as a film will continue to make people happy because it's brimming with tuneful, joyful, though mindless entertainment. What more can we ask of it?

[lesmis]

Posted: 7/14/08 at 2:09pm

I agree with you completely