95 Thoughts on Mamma Mia! 10 Years Later

With Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again coming out, many people have had the original Mamma Mia! at the front of their minds. While it may not be the best movie adaptation of a stage musical out there, there’s something undeniable about it–so much so that an original sequel was made. Is it the star-studded cast? Is it the borderline not great ABBA covers you can’t help but sing along to? Did we just really want to see Cher in the role she was born to play? Before you hit the theater for Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again this weekend, check out all the thoughts we had while revisiting the original for its 10th (plus one day) anniversary.

1. I’ve never really understood why Sophie’s version of “I Have a Dream” bookends the plot of this musical.  
2. We’re introduced to Sophie’s friends with shrieking cheers, which is fascinating considering these girls don’t actually matter as characters.
3. Sophie steals her mother’s diary without shame.
4. How did she even know where Donna kept it?
5. Sophie sings an emphatic, suggestive version of “Honey Honey” while reading about her mother’s sexual exploits, and I’m not fully comfortable with some of her facial expressions as she reads about what could be her own conception.
6. The cinematographer certainly made A Choice when they decided to go for intense close-ups on the actors’ faces while they sang rather than wider, more comfortable shots. You know, ones that could have utilized the beautiful Grecian setting.
7. I’ve noticed that movie adaptations of stage musicals fall into this trap more often than you would think, specifically ones starring Amanda Seyfried.
8. Why though? It’s not like being up their noses will make us feel like we’re watching them on stage–if anything you’re further away in a theater.
9. But I digress.
10. Sam, Bill, and Harry–hereafter referred to collectively as Sophie’s Potential Dads–agreed to come to Sophie’s wedding because Donna invited them, but why? They hadn’t seen her in 21 years.
11. I’m looking forward to hearing the answers to this question and more in Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again.
12. Which comes out tomorrow, by the way.
13. They’re not paying me to advertise it, I’m just excited.
14. Christine Baranski’s participation in this movie in the role of Donna’s best friend Tanya is a blessing.
15. “I’m looking forward to my father giving me away,” Sophie says, still not knowing who her father actually is and proving that she is an ungrateful wretch.
16. An instrumental version of “Waterloo” starts playing, letting the audience know that shit is about to get wild.
17. Tanya yelling “You look like an old hippie!” at Donna when she sees her in the overalls is all of us with our friends.
18. When Tanya says “It’s time to find Mr. Right,” to their other friend Rosie (played by Julie Walters, AKA Harry Potter’s Molly Weasley) replies, “Oh please. BO-RING!”
19. Neither of them support Sophie getting married at the age of twenty, making them the only sane characters in this film.
20. I wonder if the ABBA singalongs are canon to this world outside of the plot we see?
21. Donna’s employees are more than prepared to sing backup as she laments her station in life with “Money, Money, Money.”
22. Her daydreams of living in a Rich Man’s World is dancing in a sparkly cape while Tonya and Rosie sit on jetskis on the deck of a ship.

    

23. That’s right, they’re not in the water, the jetskis are just there as a show of wealth.
24. After Sophie’s Potential Dads show discomfort with the idea that Donna doesn’t know about their attendance at this wedding, Sophie tries to ask my earlier question (why they came all this way for the wedding of a daughter of someone they knew twenty years ago?) but they’re cut off by Donna’s illustrious appearance.
25. When Donna recognizes the men in her garage, they all change into outfits fitting of their former selves, including Sam in a RIDICULOUS hippie getup.
26. Why would you do that to Pierce Brosnan?
27. Bet they never thought they’d make a sequel, and have to answer for that creative choice, am I right?
28. I’d like to formally thank Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again for ignoring those fashion choices, at least as far as I’ve seen in the trailer.
29. Donna is so vexed that she bursts into a lively rendition of “Mamma Mia.”
30. Which, same.
31. Tanya pauses to take a sip of her drink before running after Donna, who is weeping after her encounter with Sophie’s Potential Dads.
32. Meryl is a fantastic actress, but something about this scene rings false to me.
33. Maybe I just don’t believe Meryl would allow men to rattle her that way.
34. Tanya and Rosie attempt to reach out to Donna using “Chiquitita.”
35. I wonder if the lyrics “And the wedding is tomorrow” served as the inspiration for this whole plot.
36. It physically pains me to hear Donna refer to herself as “a stupid reckless slut.”
37. It pains her friends so much that they sing “Dancing Queen,” a song that will lift you up regardless of what is happening.
38. I don’t make the rules, it’s science.
39. Aggressive camera-facing disco moves!
40. Harry’s nickname was “Head Banger.”
41. Now remember that Colin Firth is Harry and had to relay that information.
42. Sophie’s Potential Dads get to know her to a pretty version of “Our Last Summer.”
43. The cinematographer stays offensively close to Sky (Sophie’s fiance, unmentioned until this point–sorry Sky!) and Sophie during “Lay All Your Love on Me,” adding a layer of discomfort to the scene.
44. Backup is provided by all of Sky’s friends, who arrive to dance in flippers.
45. I’m so happy that’s what they kept from the Broadway show.
46. Donna and the Dynamos do God’s work and perform “Super Trouper” at Sophie’s bachelorette party.
47. Meryl Streep looks incredible in that outfit.

    

48. Sam takes this moment to declare that his and Donna’s song was “Super Trouper.”
49. Sophie’s friends start going after Bill and Harry as they sing “Gimme Gimme Gimme (A Man After Midnight).”
50. Ladies, chill.
51. Sophie and Her Potential Dads each have a conversation about their status as her father in the middle of these shenanigans.
52. Sophie still wants her mystery father to give her away at her wedding at this point, so justice for Donna.
53. The bachelor party crashes the bachelorette party as the girls sing “Voules-Vous.”
54. Understandable, how many places on this island could there be to party?
55. Sky is wearing a button-down shirt, but why? It’s practically unbuttoned to the waist. Also it’s a checkered pattern that clashes directly with his bathing suit.
56. When Sam realizes he could be Sophie’s dad, he demands to give her away at the wedding.
57. Mighty presumptuous, considering he’s just met Sophie for the first time.
58. And repeat for Harry.
59. Where do these dudes get off?
60. JUSTICE. FOR. DONNA.
61. Sophie redeems herself a bit with this line: “I have three dads coming to my wedding and I have to tell two of them they’re surplus. But which two?”
62. Why is Sophie’s friend wearing binoculars?
63. Where did Skye’s friend get bagpipes?
64. Apparently they’re Sam’s, Donna has kept them for twenty years.
65. WHY BAGPIPES?
66. Donna has had enough: “Every day I wake up thanking God that I don’t have some menopausal middle-aged MAN telling me what to do!”
67. THAT was the lead in to “SOS.”
68. Tanya’s pose while she and Harry are on the paddleboat.

    

69. The insult “He’s all mouth and no trousers” is now going to find its way into my repertoire.
70. Sky’s friend Pepper thinks he can go toe-to-toe with Tanya on “Does Your Mother Know?”
71. There’s a bit of suggestive choreography that results in Tanya putting a towel diaper on Pepper.
72. All of the people present for “Does Your Mother Know?” were ignoring their duties for the wedding, be they helping Donna or getting ready themselves.
73. “Slipping Through My Fingers” is a decent time to grab a snack, tbh. It appears that Sophie has been getting ready forever.
74. Don’t they have a wedding to get to?
75. When Sam contradicts Donna’s assertion that she’s walking Sophie down the aisle, he loses a few points he had gained with his dedication to “SOS.”
76. “The Winner Takes It All” reminding us of how awkward it must be to film some of these scenes, as Pierce Brosnan has to stand there while Meryl belts at him on top of a cliff.
77. Sam yelling “DONNA!” at the bottom of the cliff, a la Rocky, as the waves crash around him.
78. The priest looking taken aback when Sophie says, “I don’t care if you’ve slept with hundreds of men!” to her mother.
79. Sophie’s Potential Dads decide to split the role of Sophie’s father in thirds.
80. The tuba intro to “I Do” is something else.
81. I don’t think ABBA’s “I Do” count legally as wedding vows.
82. Not sure why I’m even splitting hairs when they don’t have a marriage license.
83. Listen, Pierce Brosnan’s vocals aren’t at his best during “I Do,” but the dude CAN WINK.
84. “When All is Said and Done” is used as the wedding toast.
85. Are all of these people staying at the hotel for free? That’s certainly not the best way to get the business back on its feet.
86. Rosie’s version of “Take a Chance on Me,” is used as a way to aggressively come on to Bill.
87. Let’s be real, any version of “Take a Chance on Me” is something to celebrate.
88. Get it, Molly Weasley.
89. Aphrodite’s fountain explodes to the sound of “Mamma Mia,” which Donna appears to be celebrating instead of lamenting the destruction of her property.
90. She spent time trying to fix that crack earlier in the movie!
91. There are more holes in this plot than I remember, specifically in regards to Donna’s business.  
92. We close on Sophie’s reprise of “I Have a Dream.”
93. And now, for an official version of “Dancing Queen” to roll into the credits, now with a hundred times more sequins for Donna and the Dynamos.
94. Sophie’s Potential Dads join them, wearing some of the most ridiculous Disco-gear I’ve ever seen, for a truly fantastic version of “Waterloo.”
95. I mean, it’s hard for any version of “Waterloo” to not be fantastic, am I right?