'Mamma Mia 2' reviews are ABBA-solutely great: 'Swede Jesus, they've done it'

Bryan Alexander | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Brosnan: 'Mamma Mia!' sequel 'antidote to times we live in' Returning "Mamma Mia!" actors Pierce Brosnan and Christine Baranski celebrate the sequel's message of hope at a time when "the world is in a very dark, scary place." (July 17)

It's been 10 years since "Mamma Mia!" exploded into song and onto theater screens, becoming a beloved fan favorite while pulling in the "Money, Money, Money" — $610 million to be precise.

That came despite a critical beating: The 2008 original got a 54-percent positive rating on the aggregate review site RottenTomatoes.com.

The sequel, "Mamma Mia 2!: Here We Go Again" is faring much better critically heading into its opening on Friday. Reviews for the second helping of platform shoes and ABBA songs from Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth and company have the musical sitting at 77-percent.

Brosnan has already earned USA TODAY's praise for daring to raise his voice in ABBA songs again after the original. Other media outlets have followed.

USA TODAY's Brian Truitt surrendered to his inner-Bjorn as "the film exudes an infectious energy and hearty spirit that’ll put you in a powerful Swedish super-pop headlock until you submit. Or, to quote that Napoleonic favorite “Waterloo”: I was defeated, you won the war."

Los Angeles Times reviewer Justin Chang, not a fan of the first, came around big-time on the new film.

"Does ‘Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again’ improve on the original? ABBA-solutely!" he wrote after falling under a powerful disco spell with the film's fireworks-filled ending.

"In these moments, the honey-toned pop artifice of “Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again” becomes so overwhelming, you forget all qualms, all appeals to reason and logic," Chang wrote.

More: Pierce Brosnan gets sweet ABBA-singing revenge in 'Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again'

More: Cher, Meryl Streep light up 'Mamma Mia 2' premiere blue carpet

Reviewed “Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again” last week from London. And, you know, there was something in the air that night. The stars were bright...https://t.co/KiKEB2g0py — Johnny Oleksinski (@JohnnyOMG) July 17, 2018

"Swede Jesus, they've done it," proclaimed The New York Post's Johnny Oleksinski who proclaimed the sequel significantly to be better than the original "in every way: singing, casting, cinematography, writing."

And, duh, "Cher's in it!"

Vanity Fair's Richard Lawson calls the film "charmingly buoyant with just a hint of melancholy" and notes that "the ABBA-scored sequel is perfect summer escapism."

Lawson wrote that he went into the sequel a skeptic, "but left entirely won over, cheered and a little teary. 'Here We Go Again' is uncomplicated joy in complicated, despairing times."

Entertainment Weekly's Leah Greenblatt gave the movie a B-grade, with reserved praise, calling it a "shiny-bright jukebox musical with a heart of gold and a plot of pure polyester."

Ultimately, she wrote, "it mostly succeeds in its own glittery, aggressively winsome way."

Emily Yoshida, writing for New York Magazine and Vulture, called the "Mamma Mia" movies "all blue skies" and praised the final number from Meryl Streep's Donna and her onscreen daughter Sophie (Amanda Seyfried).

The "disarmingly great sequence ... ties up these two wackadoo films’ hijinks in a very sincere bow. After all, 'Mamma Mia' is a mom movie, in every way imaginable," she wrote.

Variety's Owen Gleiberman admitted he wasn't a fan of the first film.

Trailer: 'Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again' Get the backstory to the ABBA-obsessed 2008 hit starring Meryl Streep, Amanda Seyfried and Pierce Brosnan.

"But now that there’s a 'Mamma Mia!' sequel, it can be said with certainty that the ABBA musical is a form unto itself — a shamelessly innocent (or maybe just shameless) scrapbook pieced together out of the world’s most sublime ear candy," he concluded.

One of the negative reviews came from The New York Daily News' Stephen Whitty, who at least lived up to his name, saying the musical "falls flat."

"(As) one corny scene follows another," he wrote. "It’s a movie that has nowhere to go and takes forever to get there."

Kristen Page-Kirby of The Washington Post was more direct.

' “Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again” is not a good musical.' she wrote.