Worth the price of admission alone, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again features an ending sequence—duly noted to avoid spoilers—so gloriously outrageous that it reminds us just how much this near-franchise is flirtatiously winking at us. This sequel blends the old and familiar from the first film, catching up with Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) and her three dads (Pierce Brosnan, Stellan Skarsgard and Colin Firth) with the new, revealing the backstory of Donna (Meryl Streep, now played by Lily James) and how she came to be the empowering heroine she was on the Greek island of Kalokairi.

What Here We Go Again lacks, amidst all of the vibrant energy, is the ability to sit still and let just a little bit of raw emotion fill the screen and stir the ABBA songs we know and love so much. In a high-impact sequence that outlines Donna’s character flaws in the first film, there are about ten seconds of anguish before director Ol Parker launches the film into song and dance, not joylessly so but forced and somewhat inorganic.

The Dove Take

Mama Mia! Here We Go Again is up to the challenge of rivaling the very spirit of the first, focusing less on plot and more as a giant, raucous musical experience. Sometimes, when we go to the movies, a smile on our face is all we really get. Unfortunately this one also goes too far in sexuality and language and is not Dove-Approved.