Attended the preview of Mamma Mia! yesterday nite courtesy of nuffnang at GSC 1Utama and as is the usual case of most bloggers, cameras and handphones were flashing everywhere to capture the moment for later blog posts (me excluded).
The movie was so-so in my opinion with a few genuine laughs at several points that kept my interest awake. ABBA music, no matter how catchy, kind of gets on the nerves after a while especially with the repeated chord transitions and patterns (ughs ... I'm analyzing the music too much). Two songs that really made me cringe was S.O.S. and The Winner Takes it All which felt too forced and too long for the moment.
Pierce Brosnan's singing was credible but bland (he should avoid musicals IMO) and he felt soooo out of place, wooden and uncomfortable when Meryl Streep was screaming out Winner. You could almost read Ms. Streep's mind as though she is thinking "Ughs, why won't that bloody wind stop blowing my shawl/wrap around" as she continuously fidgets with it on screen. A bad choice of filming location there.
Seems several songs were removed from the broadway version (as is the usual case with the limited running time) including Thank you for the music and Knowing me, Knowing you although the former is included in the soundtrack. Could possible mean it was filmed and cut during production. Additionally, Our Last Summer was moved from a duet between Harry and Donna to mostly a trio between Sophie, Harry and Sam with interjections from Donna and Bill. I could be wrong though as I'm basing this on the PVG score book.
Choreography was limited to big leaps and jumps along with dated moves from the flower power era although they did a funny thing with swimming flippers on the docks with the guys and with the girl power scene featuring Dancing Queen and aged old ladies dancing.
Overall? Watch it if you're a fan of ABBA music or musical genre, else give it a miss and wait for it on Astro or the nearest pasar malam dealer/torrent site. The movie has been ever-so-slightly censored to obtain the [U] rating in local cinemas.
The movie was so-so in my opinion with a few genuine laughs at several points that kept my interest awake. ABBA music, no matter how catchy, kind of gets on the nerves after a while especially with the repeated chord transitions and patterns (ughs ... I'm analyzing the music too much). Two songs that really made me cringe was S.O.S. and The Winner Takes it All which felt too forced and too long for the moment.Pierce Brosnan's singing was credible but bland (he should avoid musicals IMO) and he felt soooo out of place, wooden and uncomfortable when Meryl Streep was screaming out Winner. You could almost read Ms. Streep's mind as though she is thinking "Ughs, why won't that bloody wind stop blowing my shawl/wrap around" as she continuously fidgets with it on screen. A bad choice of filming location there.
Seems several songs were removed from the broadway version (as is the usual case with the limited running time) including Thank you for the music and Knowing me, Knowing you although the former is included in the soundtrack. Could possible mean it was filmed and cut during production. Additionally, Our Last Summer was moved from a duet between Harry and Donna to mostly a trio between Sophie, Harry and Sam with interjections from Donna and Bill. I could be wrong though as I'm basing this on the PVG score book.
Choreography was limited to big leaps and jumps along with dated moves from the flower power era although they did a funny thing with swimming flippers on the docks with the guys and with the girl power scene featuring Dancing Queen and aged old ladies dancing.
Overall? Watch it if you're a fan of ABBA music or musical genre, else give it a miss and wait for it on Astro or the nearest pasar malam dealer/torrent site. The movie has been ever-so-slightly censored to obtain the [U] rating in local cinemas.
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