When thinking of movie musicals, minds drift to Randal Kleiser’s interpretation of “Grease” with Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta, Adam Shankman’s “Hairspray” with Nikki Blonsky and Zac Efron and last but certainly not least, Phyllida Lloyd’s “Mamma Mia” with Amanda Seyfried and Meryl Streep.  

This summer, there was an addition made to the Mamma Mia franchise, a new movie called “Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again.” This sequel follows both young Donna Sheridan, played by Lily James, and her daughter, Sophie Sheridan, played by Amanda Seyfried.  

While the sequel was quite good, nothing can beat the original. The soundtrack from the first installment in the Mamma Mia franchise is much more memorable, with songs like “Honey, Honey”, “Super Trouper” and, of course, “Mamma Mia, Here I Go Again”.  

Before being a movie, this was a critically acclaimed Broadway musical that took both songs and inspiration from the Swedish band ABBA. 

Viewers cannot connect to many of the songs in the second movie except for “Fernando” and Lily James’ version of “Mamma Mia: Here I Go Again,” for songs like “When I Kissed the Teacher” and “Kisses of Fire” are less known on the spectrum of ABBA songs. 

The second movie, however, was beautifully executed. The storyline made sense and was much more emotional than the first one. Audience members were seen weeping in the theater upon viewing. 

Despite this, if the creators of “Mamma Mia” were planning on making another one, they should have left more of a story line for the second one. Many viewers were surprised when it was discovered a second was in the making because the original had ended with all problems resolved and everything tied up in a neat little bow 

There were many gaps in the second one. Admittedly, Oliver “Ol” Parker, the director of “Mamma Mia 2: Here We Go Again,” did not direct the first film, but there were still plot issues in the second movie that many fans noticed and commented on.  

For example, in the original “Mamma Mia.” Donna Sheridan, played by Meryl Streep, has a conversation with her friends after singing “Super Trouper” at Sophie’s bachelorette party. The conversation goes like this: 

Donna: “Somebody up there has it in for me. I bet it’s my mother.” 

Rosie: “And wasn’t she a ray of sunshine.” 

This small dialogue exchange between Donna and Rosie implies that Donna’s mother is dead, when in the second movie, Ruby Sheridan, played by Cher, is alive and kicking it, singing ABBA’s hit “Fernando.” It was small things like this that threw fans off and caused them to speculate and compare the two films. 

The Mamma Mia franchise has made two amazing movies and viewers were impressed with both, but the original “Mamma Mia” was better than “Mamma Mia 2: Here We Go Again.”