Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again ★

When Phyllida Lloyd’s adaptation of Broadway musical Mamma Mia! hit movie screens, the joke was that Pierce Brosnan should be taken out back and shot, lest anyone ever be subjected to his “singing” again. Now, a decade later, the former James Bond has opened his pipes and embarrassed himself once more. But this time, he’s not much worse than the rest of this dreadfully unnecessary sequel, which has been concocted by no fewer than three writers, including Catherine Johnson (writer of the original musical’s book and the first film’s screenplay), Richard Curtis (writer/director of Love Actually) and Ol Parker, who also directs. Parker is especially noteworthy since he not only penned the film adaptation of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, but also its follow-up, The Second Exotic Marigold Hotel. Between the latter film and now Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, Parker should claim his crown as king of unnecessary sequels. This is nothing short of a poorly shot and staged cash grab, framed around a thin story that focuses once again on Amanda Seyfried’s Sophie (the now-grown daughter of Meryl Streep’s Donna), then padded out with a concurrent tale featuring flashbacks to youthful versions of the first film’s stars (Lily James plays Donna, Jeremy Irvine plays Brosnan’s Sam, Hugh Skinner plays Colin Firth’s Harry and Josh Dylan plays Stellan Skarsgård’s Bill) when they first met. Recycling many of the same ABBA songs already employed in the first film, the only one missing is the obvious one: “Money, Money, Money.” (At Assembly Row, Boston Common, Fenway, Seaport, South Bay, West Newton and in the suburbs.)