I really enjoyed the first Mamma Mia! film a decade ago, even with the vocal limitations the cast brought to the project.  It was an energetic, joyous show filled with great music and a real sense of love.  The sequel, which features all of the original cast, plus some exciting new faces (and voices), however, strains to achieve the same goals.  The ABBA music is still wonderful, but this film seems forced and awkward some of the time.

Ol Parker’s film takes place five years after the first film (which oddly dates the cast an extra five years!), with Donna’s daughter Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) preparing to open a hotel in Greece in honor of her deceased mother.  Everybody returns to the island for the party, including her grandmother Ruby (Cher), and, in the film’s finest scene, the essence of Donna (Meryl Streep).  Still, much of the story is told in flashback, as young Donna (Lily James) meets and mates each of the three young men who may be Sophie’s father.  And the ABBA songs tie it all together.

Some of it works well, some of it not so much.  The first scene, resulting in “When I Kissed the Teacher,” immediately sets the awkward tone.  The flashbacks work better than the “present day” material for the most part, at least until Donna arrives in spirit to witness her granddaughter’s christening.  This is a women’s picture all the way, and should be, but it would have been nice to have provided the men, particularly the older ones, more to do.

The bottom line is that if you like ABBA’s music, and / or liked the first film, you should enjoy this one.  I think it shortchanges the older performers in favor of the youngsters, but that is Hollywood today (and has been Hollywood for a long time).  Youth and vigor sell the tickets, it is thought, and that may be true; but this story has older characters that are crucial and should have been included more than they are.  So, thank you for the music, but the scripting needed a bit more work.  ☆ ☆ 1/2.  9 October 2018.