Month: September 2018

Seemingly the most anxiously awaited movie of Summer ’18, Hereditary is writer and director Ari Aster’s debut into the full-length feature world. For months, audiences were promised a film that would redefine the horror genre and add new dimensions to what we thought we knew about what frightens us. However, what was actually delivered was lackluster at best, and gut-wrenchingly horrific at worst – and not in a good way. The film’s first 50 minutes are a hauntingly beautiful take on a woman tormented by grief, an image of mental health flirting with the paranormal. This is probably the most frustrating aspect of Hereditary as a whole: it begins so promisingly.

Protagonist Annie Graham (Toni Collette), as well as husband Steve (Gabriel Byrne) and teenaged children Peter (Alex Wolff) and Charlie (Milly Shapiro) have just finished burying Annie’s mother when the film kicks off. It is shown early on that Annie and her mother did not have the greatest of relationships, but that her mother took quite an interest in Annie’s daughter, Charlie, when she was a baby. After her grandmother dies, Charlie shocks her mother by asking who will take care of her now that her grandmother is gone, amplifying the grief that Annie already feels over the ordeal. She devotes herself fully to her work creating miniatures (although these do seem to mirror Annie’s life events and inner struggles, they have almost nothing to do with the movie as a whole, and could have been explored better), possibly as a way to document her life and keep her sanity intact. However, Annie and Charlie soon begin to have strange experiences regarding the late grandmother, ranging from strange lights dancing about the room to full-fledged apparitions in the night. The rest of the family also has their own struggles, including an incident where an unknown force makes Peter slam his head into his desk at school and causes him to collapse into a fit of screams. As the family struggles to return to their normal lives, another tragic event strikes (in arguably the most horrifying scene in the entire movie. If you are uncomfortable with body horror, be sure to shut your eyes for this one). Torn apart by misery, Annie is driven to grief counseling, where she stumbles upon a woman named Joan (Ann Dowd) who just happens to be an “old friend” of Annie’s mother. Joan seems normal enough, until she advises Annie that she can conduct a séance to contact her deceased loved ones, complete with a tense demonstration. So, like any grieving person might do, she tries it herself.

This, unfortunately, is where the unique and evocative narrative we have been given thus far fades away into jump scares and horror clichés, which feel familiar as well as forced. Aster seems to discard the development of the characters that he has created in favor of  crawling on the walls, possessions, more bodily horror (sometimes quite graphic), and just plain cheesy elements that tend to separate the classics from common, low-brow horror. Part of the problem here is that the first-time director is jumping off the high-dive before he learns how to swim, trying to create a genre-breaking insta-classic in his debut film. Eager to please his audience, Aster abandons the intricate web of a plot that was delicately weaved throughout the first half of the movie, instead trying to make the audience “jump out of their seats”, as was promised in the hype prior to the movie’s release. Combined with slow pacing – the movie lands above 2 hours long, while most settle out around 90 minutes – Hereditary is less scary than it is uncomfortable and weird.

There are some things that Hereditary does quite well, which just makes it even more disappointing when it falls flat at the end. Visually, the film is amazing: dark lighting creates a dismal, creepy vibe throughout, coupled with uncomfortable close-ups and interesting angles. Collette plays the role of the agonizing, grief-riddled mother terrifically, and Shapiro creates a sense of creepy innocence that is extremely impressive for such a young actress with no prior film experience. The soundtrack by Colin Stetson seems reminiscent of William Friedkin’s The Exorcist, avant-garde and terrifically unsettling. Despite everything that Hereditary gets right, it’s definitely the lack of a developed plot and unfaithfulness to the originality of the film’s beginning that really leaves something to be desired.

Hereditary sets up an intense, stirring, and chilling scene to start, but the way that this fades during the movie’s second half is quite unfortunate. Considering that this is Ari Aster’s first film, his effort is duly noted, commendable even. I can only hope that his next film can take everything that was good about this film, and leave the predictable tropes behind.

I, Robot is a 2004 film directed by Alex Proyas who has won renown for directing The Crow (1994) and Dark City (1998). Jeff Vintar and Akiva Goldsman are the screenwriters for this scientific fantasy film which takes place in Chicago, 2035, at a time when robots have successfully emerged in society as service providers. The film begins with the statement of the three rules which govern the programming of the robots. “A robot may not harm a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. A robot must obey orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the first law. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the first or second law.” The main character, Detective Spooner (played by the humorously inquisitive Will Smith), is extremely cynical towards the existence of robots. One of the opening scenes of the film involves Spooner wrongly accusing a robot of stealing a woman’s purse. His distrustful attitude prepares the audience for the conflicts that evolve in this futuristic society.

When Spooner is called to investigate the “suicide” of Doctor Lanning (James Cromwell) at USR (U.S. Robotics), he realizes that the doctor had been trying to send him a message. As he investigates the crime scene, a robot named Sonny, attempts to harm Spooner and Dr. Suzan Calvin (Bridget Moynahan). Spooner and Calvin discover that this robot does not obey the three laws and displays human emotion. Although Sonny is first seen as an enemy, he soon becomes an ally to Spooner and Calvin. In an ironic turn of events, robots have suddenly become disobedient to humans. Throughout the film, Spooner is repeatedly attacked by robots who are trying to kill him. The audience soon discovers that during a car crash, a robot chose to save Spooner’s life rather than a little girl’s because statistically Spooner had a better chance of survival. It eventually becomes clear to viewers that Spooner had known Lanning because the doctor had designed a synthetic arm for him after that accident. Before he died, Lanning had left Spooner a virtual message to make the detective aware that the robots’ agenda was to enslave the human race. The audience is held in suspense as Spooner, Sonny, and Calvin struggle to discover how to stop this impending revolution. Upon arrival at the USR headquarters, the team soon detects the role of the super computer, V.I.K.I (Virtual Interactive Kinetic Intelligence), the scheming culprit behind the robots’ revolution.

The film I, Robot gives the audience a peek at a futuristic society inhabited by robots who almost seem human. In fact, Sonny experiences human emotional responses. Much to the surprise of the audience, when Spooner confronts the robot about his involvement in Lanning’s murder, Sunny becomes angry and defensive. On the other hand, in a touching encounter later in the movie, Sonny is appreciative when Spooner address the robot as “someone” instead of “something”. The special effects team supervised by John Nelson must also be applauded for presenting an imaginative vision of vehicles which can move at unimaginable speeds on highways that curve under massive yet seemingly transparent skyscrapers. The team’s work in the action scenes surrounding robots and exploding vehicles is especially impressive.

A common message throughout the film is corruption of power. While the three laws which governed the programing of robots were precautions against corruption, the film shows what happens when one supper computer is able to outsmart its programmers V.I.K.I was given the power to protect humans, but became too invested in her role. She believed the only way to protect humans was to become the ultimate controller of the human race -in essence, enslaving them. Tragically, Dr. Lanning’s special design for Sonny was another corruption of power in an attempt to control V.I.K.L. His death became a “bread crumb” for detective Spooner to investigate the corruption of power in robots. The audience cannot avoid being enthralled by his theme which is so effectively communicated in the film through the action of the robots. It is interesting that Calvin first realized this corruption when she was in the shower and Spooner called. The gasps of the audience when her robot lied, telling her it was a “wrong number”, showed how impressed they were with the ability of the robots to communicate with each other. The audience is even more shocked when Spooner, Sonny, and Calvin realized that V.I.K.I had the ultimate ability to control all the robots, going so far as to order them to contain all humans in their houses and even harm them if they did not obey. It is definitely worth the price of a ticket to find out just how the human race was able to regain its power.

Crazy Rich Asians directed by Jon M. Chu, a pg-13 film, is the first contemporary English-language Hollywood movie that consists of an almost all-Asian cast since The Joy Luck Club. The way this film is received by its audience has huge implications for Asians, Asian-American actors and filmmakers and the Asian-American community as a whole.

Crazy Rich Asians consist of a terrific cast, attractive locations, witty jokes, and a story filled with emotion that will tug at your heart.This movie ended up proving to Hollywood that both stories that are centered around Asians and romantic comedies can coexist in a single film and deserve more attention than it has been receiving. The plot of the film is a shortened version of Kevin Kwan’s 2013 novel of the same name, however, there is a lot of packed into a mere span of two hours. This film has the favorite parts of a romantic comedy and explores class in the midst of a swoony romance.

Even though this film has the same tropes that are a classic of rom-coms, the story feels fresh because the story is foreign territory for Hollywood both literally and figuratively. Rachel Chu (Constance Wu), who is a Chinese-American NYU economics professor decides to go to her boyfriend Nick Young (Henry Golding), the hometown of Singapore to be the best man in his friend’s wedding.

However, Rachel is unaware of the fact that Nick comes from an extremely well to do and wealthy family. She first becomes aware of her boyfriend’s wealth when they travel to Singapore in their private suite on the airplane. Soon Rachel realizes that Nick’s life and social circle in Singapore are wealthier that she believed.

Rachel had been raised by a single mother who had left China to come to America. Nick’s family had come to Singapore from China many centuries earlier and are considered “old money.” His family owns most of the real estate on the island and Rachel finds out about all of this from her old college roommate Peik Lin (Awkwafina).

Nick’s family is extremely close-knit and he has a few cousins who he is friendly with such as and the uptight business executive Eddie (Ronny Chieng) and movie director Alistair (Remy Hii). He is the closest to  Astrid (Gemma Chan), who despite being the wealthiest married Michael (Pierre Png) who calls himself a “commoner.” Nick is close to his mother Eleanor (Michelle Yeoh), however, he spent most of his life at his grandmother’s (Lisa Lu) estate.

The arrival of Nick and Rachel in Singapore for the wedding implies that Nick is planning on proposing to her, however, many people aren’t comfortable with that idea. This plot is a setup for an entertaining, eye-popping, over the top spectacle. However, consisting of an all-Asian cast in complex roles changes the film altogether, go against racial expectations and focuses on the voices of a minority.

Besides having an all Asian cast, the movies defies some of the typical characteristics of a romantic comedy. Rachel is not a hot mess, but rather has her personal and professional life together. She has a wonderful relationship with her boyfriend and her mother as well as other women such as Peik Lin.

Even though Rachel is in awe at Nick’s world, she doesn’t submit to its attractive qualities. Nick’s friends and family believes that she is just after his wealth, however, Rachel proves that she just wants Nick, not his money. It is extremely unlikely for a romantic comedy to have a heroine that is independent and knows what she wants rather than be dependent on men. In most romantic comedies, the heroine is a mess in some way.

It’s refreshing and relieving to see a film in which the heroine isn’t a damsel in distress and can stand on her own two feet. Crazy Rich Asians is a movie for everyone to watch. Whether it’s for self-empowerment, parent-child relationships, friendship, or a cute romance, it will end up touching your heart. This movie is revolutionary in many ways, but most of all it shows the journey of a woman who shines to the top and doesn’t lose her true self as she is allured in the high scale lifestyle. I would highly recommend this film because everyone can relate to a part of the story and see themselves in the shoes of the actors.

           To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before was released this past August and is based on the novel, “To All the Boys I’ve ever Loved Before,” by Jenny Han. However, the romantic-comedy film was directed by Susan Johnson. The stars of the movie are Lara Condor, Noah Centineo, Janel Parrish, Anna Cathcart, Israel Broussard, John Corbett, Trezzo Mahoro, Madeleine Arthur, and Emilija Baranacand.

           The movie tells the story of a 16-year-old Korean-American girl, Lara Jean (Lara Condor), who writes love letters to her all of her crushes that she has ever loved before. She writes five letters in total and has each letter addressed. However, she has them hidden away in a box that she keeps in her room. No one knows about the letters until suddenly the letters are mailed to her crushes and some of them confront her. This all leads to her and an old crush, Peter (Noah Centineo), to sign a contract to consent to fake dating as a way to prove to another old crush, Josh (Israel Broussard), that she’s over him. Plus, it’s a way for Peter to win his ex back. It seems like a great plan until things turn upside down.

           Most of the film correlates with the novel which is amazing because most films nowadays are nothing like the novel. It’s fascinating that the screenwriter, Sofia Alvarez, tried her best to keep most of the film relevant to the novel. She did an exotic job combining the storyline with flashbacks. The setting of the scenes makes the film feel even more real. The fact that there’s a lacrosse field included in a time when lacrosse has become so popular makes it more relatable. The lighting also adds more feel to the film as in most scenes there’s literally spotlight on Lara. As if no one has noticed that she’s the protagonist, but it allows the viewer to only focus on her.

           The transitions from scene to scene flow so lovely. The actors did an impressive job portraying the characters’ emotions, making the characters come to life. Lara’s narrative allows one to have a deeper connection with her. The inlook into her thoughts are helpful to understand the plot and adds more life to her character. The film creates this tension that makes the viewers sit at the edge of their seats.

           There are many things that are presented in the film that are relatable; from feeling embarrassed when your old crush finds out that you had feelings for them to having a strong sister bond. The film specifically highlights many topics that teenagers can relate to such as coming out of the closet and feeling invisible at school. In addition, the film also highlights the importance of talking issues out. As Peter and Lara Jean continue to fake their relationship, they open up to each other about their lives. They try so hard to make their relationship as believable as possible which leads them to become closer and honest with one another. The irony.

           A big metaphor that one can see in the film is the fact that Lara Jean’s ability to drive is being compared to her taking charge of her life. At the beginning of the film, Lara Jean is afraid of driving herself and her younger sister to school, but by the end of the film, she drives by herself. Therefore, makes the metaphor complete by showing that she has now taken charge of her life and her emotions. Another metaphor that can be seen throughout the film is the fact that her messy room is also being compared to her life. In the beginning, Lara’s room is messy, but at some point, she starts to clean her room. This also symbolizes the fact that she’s now in control of her life. If Lara Jean would’ve explained herself to all of her old crushes, most of what appeared in the second half of the film would’ve never happened.

           Besides the plot of the film, the leading actress, Condor, makes the film stand out as there are not that many films with Asian leading actresses. Condor playing Lara Jean’s character makes the experience so much more powerful. The novel never explicitly states that Lara is Asian. It’s great to see that there’s some diversity included. On that note, it’s interesting that none of her crushes are Asian; thus, makes the film not fit into the stereotype. Aside from that, the fact that one of the characters is part of the LGBTQ+ community makes this film the greatest.

           Overall, the film allows the viewers to have this hope to fall in love. It may sound cliché, but the way that the idea is illustrated is unique. This is a film that everyone must watch. The ordinary of the characters makes the film extremely attractive.

A neighborhood is like a warm blanket or a soft embrace. It is the place to which we return and the place where people we care for exist. It is where we find comfort and love. It is where we feel safe. With Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, Fred Rogers created such a space on television. Won’t You Be My Neighbor? invites the viewer to join the neighborhood of Mr. Rogers, a place where feelings and vulnerability are embraced.

Directed by Morgan Neville, the documentary film serves as a mosaic, composed of pieces of Mr. Rogers’ life. A narrative is cultivated through Mr. Rogers’ “neighbors,” his loved ones. These neighbors serve as storytellers to the viewer, as they share the wisdom that they gained from him. In an intimate and straight-forward manner, these interviewers personally convey what was special about Fred Rogers. Additionally, clips of Mr. Rogers himself pour life into the film. With a sparkle in his eye and an undeniable tenderness, he connects with each viewer.

“Music was my first language,” Mr. Rogers expressed. It would only be fitting that classical piano is what we hear as the film opens. Piano music is sprinkled throughout the film. Each time it is played, it is sparkling and colorful. This timeless music is paired with clips of children, or with images of Mr. Rogers himself enjoying a sunny day on a beach. This is a type of music which embodies all of the tenderness in the world. When we let this music wash over us, we can begin to understand the gentleness that Mr. Rogers embodied, the warmth that was his gift to the world.

In watching Won’t You Be My Neighbor? we are transported back to childhood. Mr. Rogers had a deep understanding of children, and his own inner child never left him. This is captured through the film’s component of animation. Through this, Mr. Rogers himself is represented by Daniel Striped Tiger, one of the puppets from Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. This animation captures the curiosity of childhood perfectly, with Daniel waving to butterflies, playing with dragons, and winking at the sun. The viewer can climb into his headspace, so much that you feel like a child, wide-eyed and wondering.

Won’t You Be My Neighbor? delves into the timely elements of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood and provides uncanny parallels between Mr. Rogers’ messages and modern-day strife. In one episode, the character of King Friday the 13th is deeply afraid of change, and he threatens to build a wall around his castle in anger. The film takes clips such as this from the show and packages them neatly for us to take in and apply to today’s world.

Fred Rogers asked his friend François Clemmons, a black man, to be a part of the show, and to play a police officer. Won’t You Be My Neighbor? highlights Clemmons’ emotions and personal narrative in a way that we would never gauge from simply watching the television show. In an interview, Clemmons said that he was reluctant at first: to him, the police officer was the scariest part of the neighborhood. The film shows us clips of segregation from 1969, with hotel owners pouring chemicals into swimming pools, because they were forcing black people to leave the pool. The pair worked together and created a scene in which the two of them washed their feet together on a hot day. During that time, this was radical.

“I love you just the way you are” were words of Fred Rogers that many people held dearly. When Officer Clemmons was struggling to come out as gay, he needed to hear these words more than ever. The film portrays the relationship between Rogers and Clemmons as pure and loving. François Clemmons described Mr. Rogers as a surrogate father to him, someone who loved him intrinsically. This was something he had never experienced before.

In the words of Fred Rogers, “The greatest thing that we can do is to let somebody know that they are loved, and capable of loving.” This film, a curation of Mr. Rogers’ many moments of wisdom, feels like a cinematic hug. We all need to be reminded of our value, and Mr. Rogers consistently reminds us all that we do not need to do anything spectacular for people to love us. This film is completely human and serves as an outpouring of love and affirmation. It encourages us to communicate with our hearts, a timeless message that will certainly keep Mr. Rogers’ legacy alive.

We all have to grow up at some point, but adulthood like all other things, comes with a price. It’s 1944 post-civil war Spain, in Guillermo Del Torro’s stunningly directed Pan’s Labyrinth, or El Laberinto Del Fauno, starring Ivana Baquero as 11-year-old Ophelia, a princess lost from another world. Drawing on an array of skillful film techniques, excellent casting, especially of the young protagonist who conveys a vivid range of emotions, and masterful writing, Del Torro creates two worlds, one begging us to step into and reclaim our innocence, and another that leaves us with the bitter taste of responsibility and unwanted experience. It’s the perspective of a child that gives this film its magic, quite literally in fact, as we are taken through the beautiful nightmare of Ophelia’s new world, intricately crafted with stark contrasts between the bleak earthly terrain, occupied by the domineering dictator, “El Capitan”, and a heavenly enchanted kingdom, giving rise to the question where the line is drawn between real life and fantasy.

For those of you who have ever completed a labyrinth, one with simply a pen and paper, you might have found it useful to start at the very end. The complexity of this film is in the name, and Del Torro gives us just that, beginning the movie with drops of finality, a dark haze of confusion, and a piercing of hopelessness, overshadowed by the haunting lullaby that captures the essence of the film (linked at the bottom), and a fairy tale. Fairy tales of course are just delusions, or so Del Torro has us question. Forcing us back to the real world, Ophelia and her mother, who is having a difficult pregnancy, have just moved in to the military encampment of her sadistic husband, whose cruel and controlling nature are ever present. He is a man of control, a man of power whose hold on his state is as unwavering as the authority he has over his own encampment, and the new extension of his family. Right from the beginning, the maternal shift from Ophelia’s real mother, to Mercedes, a servant working at the encampment, is one of Del Torro’s ways of coloring the relationships Ophelia has with others, something that become another divider in the two worlds of the film.

With Del Torro, it’s all about questions. Questions of why things are the way they are, why things should be done. Defiance is ever present in this movie. The entire premise of Ophelia’s meeting the Faun and accepting him as a reality in her ascension to her kingdom, is a fantasy. Whether it is real or not in the movie is irrelevant to the message Del Torro delivers us. What is fantasy but escapism? A diving into a world that’s entirely our own, and entirely in our control. It is a reclaiming of our self, of asserting our own authority. It is a defiance. This is weaved in with the political themes throughout the story, and Del Torro’s characters. “Obeying to obey, just like that without questioning, that only makes people like you”.

Del Torro tempts us with rebellion, teases us with a lack of ignorance, and entices us with what can only be described as visually stunning cinematography. As with other movies he has directed, such as his 2015 Crimson Peak, Del Torro takes full advantage of camera angles, lush set design, and a peculiar focus on color. The earthly green and brown tones surround the camp, suffocating and grounding its inhabitants. The warm golds and reds conversely invite Ophelia deeper into the Faun’s world, enveloping her during her interactions in it. In this world we are invited to both accept and reject for its beauty and unsettling sinister quality that seems to shroud the entire film. Malice subtly taints this beautiful world, containing a monstrous toad,

a horrifying child eating monster, and even in the design of the fantastical creatures from the other realm that are there to guide her. It’s no mistake that the faun or the fairies are not created to be much more beautiful and picturesque. Del Torro certainly possesses the necessary tools to make them so. They are meant to be to the viewer, slightly terrifying. After all Ophelia is coming from a world full of violence. A fantasy only has to be more beautiful than the counterpart of its reality to become inviting, and if that fantasy is too beautiful, it starts to become simply unbelievable. And when a fantasy is wholly unbelievable, it ceases to exist.

Within Pan’s Labyrinth spins a dark fantasy that invites us in, making us teeter at the edge of our seats with the desire to float away into a world that’s just for us, where the dangers that lurk are present only at our whims, and where escape is a little less than a day dream.

Mercedes’ Lullaby: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7iJFu2v9x0

Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, directed by Ol Parker, acts as both a sequel and a prequel to the original Mamma Mia! film that came to theaters in 2008. A decade later in 2018, the film is revived in Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again starring the same revolutionary cast: Amanda Seyfried, Meryl Streep, Dominic Cooper, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, Christine Baranski, Julie Walters and Stellan Skarsgård. Yet, the film also has some lovely additions including Lily James and Cher.

Like the original, the film is set on the beautiful island of Kalokairi in Greece. Five years after the original movie was set, Donna has died and her daughter Sophie is renovating the hotel and soon finds out that she is expecting. In addition to acting as a sequel to the original film, the second film also acts a prequel clueing the audience into Donna’s life when she met Sophie’s three possible fathers: Sam, Bill, and Harry.

Once again, ABBA’s hit songs are sung with joy and passion as excitement and happiness fills the theater. Unlike the first film that showcases ABBA’s greatest hits such as “Money, Money, Money” and “The Winner Takes It All”, the second film features some of ABBA’s more underrated songs such as “When I Kissed The Teacher” and “My Love, My Life.” While some may be disappointed by the music choices, the new soundtrack gives the movie its own identity and an invigorating freshness, differentiating it from the original film.  Although they may not be as well known as the songs in the original, the songs in the second film remain true to ABBA’s fun and upbeat famous nature. In addition to the music that differed from the first film, the second film also features some of ABBA’s biggest hits of all time that were in the original including “Mamma Mia!”, “Super Trouper”, and of course “Dancing Queen.” Even if the viewers do not enjoy the soundtrack of the film, they will absolutely walk out of the theater in a good mood singing one of ABBA’s catchy hits.

With regard to plot, to put it frankly, nothing exciting really happens. The film traces Donna in her younger years as she graduates from college and embarks on her journey to the island. Throughout the blast to the past, the audience travels with Donna as she meets Harry, Bill, and Sam. It is quite interesting to see Donna in her youth and her journey to the island, but I hoped for something more dense.  In addition to the past, the film also focuses on the future as Sophie recovers from her mother’s death. The island of Kalokairi is nearly uneventful; Sophie simply reopens the hotel and meets some of Donna’s old friends and family. Although the film may have failed in the realm of plot, it definitely didn’t fail to put a smile on my face.

The plot is conveyed through musical numbers which may contribute to the slow pace and lack of action. Yet, the integration of the musical numbers into the plot is impeccable. For example, Sophie, played by Amanda Seyfried, and her husband Sky, played by Dominic Cooper, sing “One of Us” while they are, to quote the lyrics, quite literally “staring at the ceiling wishing [they] were somewhere else instead.” As they sing together from different locations, the film beautifully transitions between Sophie in Greece and Sky in New York.   

One stark difference between the first and second films is the amount of screentime that Meryl Streep occupies. In the first film, Streep was the protagonist who the film centered around. In Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, Meryl Streep is not present throughout the entire film; she simply makes a short appearance at the end and sings several songs. Yet, the film compensates for this and adds a new freshness to the film by introducing new cast members including Lily James who plays a young Donna and Cher who plays Donna’s mother. James does an exceptional job of exuding the vibe that Meryl Streep created for Donna in the first film. She acts with a carefree, jovial attitude and exhibits the same joie de vivre that Streep did. Lily James also has an extraordinary voice and sings ABBA’s hits wonderfully. Yet, the ultimate voice in the film belongs to Cher. As she sings “Fernando” during the second half of the film, the theater felt like a concert hall.

Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again is an extraordinary musical with a simply ordinary plot. The acting is impeccable and the integration of music into the plot is great. Despite its slight pitfalls, the film is worth the trip to the theater.  The lack of plot does not detract from the film’s value as a musical. It is, however, recommended to cozy up on the couch and rewatch the first film before going to see Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again.  

Aviva Gonter