Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (dir. Ol Parker)

Show me someone who says they don't like ABBA, and I'll present you with a bone-faced liar. Few Swedish exports are as universally adored as the multi-platinum selling quartet from Stockholm - not even their easy to assemble furniture and sumptuous meatballs. Even the sternest of machismo'd chaps would attest to enjoying the rhythmic charm of "Dancing Queen" or even "Waterloo", and you not what to do if they attest to the contrary.

Dominating the charts in the mid-seventies until the late eighties, their resurgence was born with a deliciously camp stage show - entitled Mamma Mia - which audaciously attempted to construct a narrative surrounding a woman's search for her daughter's biological father told to the accompaniment of their beloved back-catalogue. Audiences swooned and inevitably a film adaption was green-light; a cinematic experience unlike anybody had ever seen - with the highlights ranging from Meryl Streep’s method acting during the sporadic pop songs to Pierce Brosnan “singing” of their beloved tune "SOS" - which remains the only time in a cinema i felt my soul being wrenched from my body as a result of the sheer awfulness of it all.

But alas: somehow it worked - and I wasn’t the only one labeling the hit as a new entry in the “so bad it’s good” volume of cheesy cinema. And of course audiences followed suit too, a behemoth taking at the box office and record shattering numbers on both the soundtrack and the home video release cemented Mamma Mia as the most talked about film of 2008. But ten years have passed, and as is customary with universally adored tent poles - everyone asks about the sequel.

But it’s not that easy. Whereas before you could have conjured up a half-way decent idea to get the bang back together, in the case of this particular musical, it has to be a reasonable storyline to fit the songs. So who do you bring on for this mammoth task? Enter Richard Curtis: if any screenwriter in Hollywood (or back in Britain) can make a film like “Love Actually” work with the flimsiest of narrative constructs, he can find a script worth doing for its belated sequel. Here’s the thing - he’s the reason Mamma Mia 2 is just as good as the original - Curtis brings an emotional edge to proceedings - helped also by some laugh-out-loud one liners - which resonates with the character development and compliments the musical interludes. In a time where there seems to be no end to international animosity, this is exactly what we needed - a quick reminder of what’s good in the world - ABBA.

We begin with our de-facto heroine Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) planning an elaborate re-opening of her Grecian hotel, which made the setting for the previous film's frivolity. It's been a few years since her mother Donna's (Meryl Streep) untimely passing and Sophie is feeling ambivalent about her mother's absence - not least of which as her and hubby Sky (Dominic Cooper) are at each other's throats as a result of their long-distance romance. But soon we're transported thirty years prior to a flashback sequence which gives credence to her mother's previous dalliances - most notably to Colin Firth (this time played by Hugh Skinner), Stellan Skaarsgard (played by Josh Dylan) and Pierce Brosnan (played by Jeremy Irvine); filling in for twenty year old Donna this time around is the impossibly charming Lily James.

If the original hit was guilty of anything remotely egregious, it was that the direction was a little rough around the edges- and the script lambasted itself with a laughable self-importance. This time around however, in the hands of director Ol Parker, we get a much more fluid direction - and a musical piece which is reassuringly self-aware. Make no mistake here - Mamma Mia 2 isn’t a masterpiece of filmmmaking; nor was its predecessor. But my critical hat was lost in the waves of excitement that overcame me, beginning with a delightful interpretation of "When I Kiss The Teacher".

Further performances which hit home range from a terrific duo between Amanda Seyfried an Dominic cooper with "One of US"- which pacts an emotional punch- especially for those of us who have dealt with long distance heartache. As well as a terrific cameo from Cher - albeit chewing the scenery for its all worth - who dazzles with a serenading performance of Fernando to newcomer Andy Garcia. But all of your tears and smiles should be reserved for a final performance of "My Love, My Life" - set in a church - which was by far the hardest I’ve cried in cinema for the longest possible time; a spellbinding melange of emotions.

"Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again" didn’t need to exist but we’re all the better for it. It’s camp, it’s joyful and it’s especially needed in times like these. Take note everyone - who can think of an idea for a three-quel.

Rating 4/5.