English (U) 18 September 2008Distributor: Universal Pictures
Running Time: approx. 108 minutes
Director: Phyllida Lloyd
Producer: Judy Craymer, Gary Goetzman; Benny Anderson, Bjorn Ulvaeus, Rita Wilson, Tom Hanks
Writer: Catherine Johnson
Casts: Meryl Streep, Amanda Seyfried, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, Stellan Skarsgard, Dominic Cooper, Julie Walters, Christine Baranski
Plot: Meryl Streep leads an all-star cast as an independent, single mother who owns a small hotel on an idyllic Greek island. Donna (Streep) is about to let go of Sophie (Amanda Seyfried), the daughter she's raised alone. On a quest to find her father to walk her down the aisle, Sophie brings back three men from Donna's past to the Mediterranean paradise they visited 20 years earlier. Based on the smash hit musical seen by over 30 million people worldwide with a gross to date of US$2 billion. It is set to songs by popular '70s group ABBA.
My Verdict:
Green Tea says:
Okay, so I have watched it ahead of the Nuffnang Special Screening, anyway! But I know posting up this is consider too late since I watched it with Renee on Saturday. Althought I put a lot of expectation for this one like other musical movies, this one fared considerably average. They wasn't any catchy moments like those in 'Hairspray', no creatively crafted plot intervention like those in 'Across The Universe', nor it had the beat of extraordinary that movies like 'Rent', 'Once' or 'August Rush' have.
Casting is too much dominated by the female part where the male essence can be ignored for good. The female sang better than their counterpart. Pierce Brosnan's singing can be listenable but nothing much to wow you! Presenting Amanda Seyfried in the movie is too much since she is unknown and her energetic performance have no match to our veteran Meryl Streep. She is still the centre of the movie, the spotlight is on her. But the other part of the credit deservely be given to the two sidekick of Meryl - psycholy fun and bitchy. Acting in general is just a s0-so.
The storyline is nothing to be cheer on. There is nothing wrong with the plot, just that sometimes it get mixed up and the changes of mood can occured too fast even before you realize it. But the dampen ends just right there, the interesting story crafting, even not as par as 'Across The Universe' which had darker theme and more cross-plots, this simple to go through type of story flow perfectly well. With super energetic charged and people doing hyper crazy stunts in the movie, the feel for this movie is high, coupled with the fact that ABBA's fans would be pleased. Song choices were perfect except need to remind you sometimes that it may have a little bit of explicity, LOL. With singing along, I think you may get ride of it nicely. This movie wasn't that bad, only it fares slightly over the avarage.
CAST -3.5 stars
STORYLINE - 3.5 stars
CINEMATOGRAPHY - 4.0 stars
EFFECTS - what effects?
an overall >> 3.5 stars
Renaye says:
3.0 stars