FRom my live journal:
Mamma Mia-NO SPOILERS
I finally got out to see that new Momma Mia movie. That's the "feel-good" show done with the music of that old band, INXS.
I found it to be really confusing. This may be because I arrived late.( There was an accident with the concession stand buttery flavor machine.) I took some notes about the film to keep things straight. But since I only saw the last half, I cribbed some stuff from the official movie website. I also left the theater a few more times to wipe more buttery flavor stuff off. I guess you could say that I kept slipping out of my seat.

One thing I noticed right away is that the location wasn't right. I know that some times you can't shoot where you'd like to. It's a problem I run into all the time. According to the studio information, it was supposed to be in Spain or Italy, or some other smelly place with flies. I may be wrong, but the place looked a lot like Chicago to me; only more gothic.

The story seems to be about a woman who doesn't know which of Bruce, Harvey, or Gordon is her kid's father. The woman is played by Meryl Streep. this is one of her grittiest roles on years.
Meryl did a few tricks, including a great one involving a disappearing pencil, and told scarry stories and jokes in this clown makeup like ThatheredangedoutdoormeatsmokerDiego does. I think that the character was supposed to be PMSing because she sure acted out a lot.

Her wardrobe is also a bit jarring. I'm not sure that the green and purple works with the dirty red hair. They say that this time she sings and dances. Maybe I don't understand this new modern music. It just sounded like a lot of screaming to me. In any case, she really lost herself in this role. She looks to have gained 20 pounds and about 6 inches in height. I totally didn't recognize her at first. But, why so serious? Isn't this supposed to be a happy film? I will say that her vocal coach earned their pay cause that woman has more voices in her head than Ted Kaczynski. Happily, I didn't see much dancing.
I also liked Pierce Bronson as Harvey, even though his face got kinda burned near the end.

I never did figure out who the caped guy was with the pointy hat who kept standing on the tops of buildings and punching folks. Maybe he's a muse.
I found the ending a bit lacking. It would have been better if Meryl had chosen Bruce instead of that other one...the one that wasn't all burned. I mean, that Bruce guy really seems to be loaded.
Considering that this was supposed to be a musical I was glad to see all the explosions and bodies flying and punching. It gave the film balance.