Well, I went and saw Mamma Mia! last night. It was completely ridiculous, but man I laughed my bum off the entire dang time. So, it was the amusing kind of ridiculous.
The casting was just excellent, and I think that is really what saved this movie from making me wish I had money back. I think something like 99.999% of the humor was more physical or in the way the actor delivered the line than in anything else. I mean seriously, you've got Meryl Streep playing opposite Colin Firth, AND Pierce Brosnan, AND Stellan Skarsgard. Plus, even though I couldn't get past the fact that the actress playing the daughter did not look a day over 17 to me (though she's apparently only five years younger than I am), she really did quite an impressive job. Then there's Christine Baranski. She is a freaking genius. Even the supporting cast pulled their weight quite well. Also, as my friend K pointed out, there was the added bonus that the Greek Chorus was a chorus made up of actual Greeks. Nice little touch, that.
As far as the story goes, it was kind of lackluster and simple, but it worked I guess. There was enough going on to keep me entertained, which is really all I can ask for in a movie that I otherwise have no expectations of whatsoever. I had a hard time figuring out who, if anyone, was actually doing their own singing. I am pretty sure Amanda Seyfried was and Colin Firth wasn't. Pierce definitely was because he was AWFUL, but clearly having fun with it, so I am willing to let it go. The songs themselves in most places seemed just kind of crammed in, but what can you expect from a musical built completely around one group's body of work. The shocking thing is how many of the songs actually did work with the story.
So anyhoo, if you like musicals, and the music of Abba doesn't make you want to gouge your eyes out, go ahead and give this a try. As long as you're not someone who takes themselves too seriously and can endure a movie that will just merely make you laugh and that isn't really shooting for any achievements in quality.
Other tidbits:
After I watched the movie, I came home to view the final installment of Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. I was fairly amused by realizing how vastly better the quality of the music, the singing, and the overall performances were in my little low-budget one-off web series than in the big budget theatrical event, but you know, whatever. I don't want to give any spoilers away for the last act of this wonderful little web series for those who haven't seen it yet (and don't dawdle too long! It's only available for free online until midnight tonight, though still available for purchase on iTunes at least), but I will say this--Joss Whedon has created one hell of a supervillain origin story. I have already seen pleas online for Joss to give us more in some format, preferably as more blogs--though I can also see it continuing on in comic book format as well. Of course, that would eighty-six the musical aspect of it, and we don't want that if we can avoid it.
At the theater last night, during the pre-preview commercials, I got to have a little geekgasm moment when there was a commercial for Stargate: Continuum. Man, how cool is it to see that on the big big screen? Pretty darn cool I've got to say. I am so excited! Alternate universe/timeline stories have always fascinated me, and Stargate usually does a pretty decent job of pulling them off, so it should be good stuff.
Other than that, I am working my way through season one of Heroes on DVD and my hubby and I are going to try to catch Hellboy II this week if we can. Then I just have to figure out a time to coordinate seeing The Dark Knight with other interested parties. Lots to watch...
Until next time folks, take care,
C
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