Walking on Sunshine

Taylor fell in love with hottie Raf while on holiday in Puglia, Italy but, despite his entreaties to stay, she left to go to university. On graduating three years later, she returns to Puglia to holiday with her sister Maddie who is already there (they had decided on Puglia because it meant to much to Taylor). Maddie, who has a history of relationships with unsatisfactory men, announces that she has had a whirlwind engagement and is about to get married in two days. No surprises for guessing who the lucky fellow is...

So, let me see - a British film with a frothy story involving family relationships, secrets, romance, deceit, love, and squealy young women, in a sunny Mediterranean setting, with the plot advanced by way of the cast bursting into 30-year old pop songs at regular intervals. Walking On Sunshine isn't even a blood relation of Mamma Mia!, but it has definitely sneaked into its wardrobe, nicked its shorts, T-shirt and sandals, and put them on to make you think it is. Which gives two grounds on which to consider it - on its own merits, and by comparison to MM!.

On its own merits, it is amiable enough. The good points are that it is bright, colourful, cheerful and tuneful, and the two sisters (Hannah Arterton - younger sister of Gemma - as Taylor, and Annabel Scholey as Maddie) are both attractive and likable performers. The bad points are that it is completely predictable, the dance routines are pretty obvious (even as a non-dancer I can spot that they are not especially challenging) the cast includes two funny fat people (despite giving good performances, they are included solely for the sake of being funny fat people which, as a not particularly funny fat person, I object to), and the hot Italian blokes are indentikit and interchangeable (I accept that those who are fans of the male sixpack may feel differently).

And, compared with Mamma Mia!, it fares worse, for three main reasons. One, its following of the MM! template is absolutely transparent, from the squealy reunion at the start to the dramatic and heart-rending showstopper towards the end. Two, the selection of 80s hits doesn't have the emotional heft of a soundtrack selected entirely from the Abba catalogue. And third, and most importantly, it doesn't have a cast who bring the commitment and credibility to the froth in the way that Meryl Streep and co. did. Walking On Sunshine features a bunch of attractive 20-somethings (and one louche old lothario) who don't appear to work or have a single worry other than romantic ones: contrast Streep and the three Dads, all of whom were grounded in the real world.

If you didn't like Mamma Mia!, you aren't likely to enjoy this. If you did - well, like I said, it's sunny, cheerful and tuneful, so you may. And if you didn't see Mamma Mia! - then I guess it depends on why you didn't.

I guess most people have not even heard of this musical movie. It is similar to Mama Mia without the big stars, and with pop 80's song instead of just ABBA. People from my age group will recognize all the songs. The interesting thing is this movie has a character similar to Pierce Brosnan in Mama Mia. Can you recall his singing talent? I found it fun to guess and recognize all the songs. However, the dance choreography is quite standard without much wow effect. The acting of some makes you feel like watching high school musical. Overall, I enjoyed watching it but not too many repeat in the future, which is rare for a musical movie.

Watchable... Nice settings, photography. Songs was best of overplayed Radio songs of the 80's. However... this film reminded me of a "The Asylum" film studio production of an attempt capitalize on the Video sales of "Momma Mia"! The problem is it is not an Asylum Film's production.

What is missing from this modern nostalgia musical was the 'Major Actors' which the audience could immediate identify with. I felt as if some kids got together and said.. "Ha, we can do that and we don't even have to hire FAMOUS actors"... the attempt failed.

As for why "Momma Mia" works and this musicals fails is, I guess it is easy to forgive "James Bond" or "Karen Silkwood" for not having the any musical ability or voice. It's not so easy to forgive basically "unknowns" actors for destroying the songs we have heard so often. I can not say "Songs we Love"... this may also be a bit of the problem. Though the songs were 'Radio Play' hits... the songs lack the cohesion of being by one "Group" like Abba in MM. A few songs I loved, but some I actually hated having to hear again and even cringed at hearing song so off key.

All is not lost, as stated, it is a watchable movie. Musicals seldom are box office draws. I must really applaud even this attempt which is better than many NEW Musicals.

While this movie panders to all the clichés of 'a chicks night in musical' that's also what makes it good. Viewing it on a wet afternoon in summer with no holiday in sight it just made me happy and I left the cinema smiling and singing the songs from my youth. How many movies can you say that about these days. It was cleverly thought out, the dancing and staging was fun, the leads were appealing, the hot boys were hot. Downside was that the girl playing Maddy was hopelessly over the top as was Greg Wise,, but this was a pantomime musical generated for a few drinks and a hen night in the summer. Where as MamaMia was trying to convince (and never did) the bad acting, singing and dancing have at least been rectified here and you are laughing along for the right reasons. It works in most part from a lovely lead performance from Hannah Arterton proving she's a MUCH better actress than her over exposed sister (Gemma).. In the cold light of day this movie makes you feel like you've had a romance on holiday , fallen in love and then you go home, whether you re-visit will be up to you.. I will.

Pretty much what I expected - a just reading the trailer with a bit of common sense tells you all about the film and you can work the rest out with little effort! Music was OK - storyline totally predictable, acting pretty rubbish. Not my usual sort of film but went in a group. If you liked Mamma Mia you will probably enjoy this, but definitely not my cup of tea! Good bits were the scenic vistas (does make you want to visit) and the Italian eye candy for the ladies. Definitely not a 'deep and meaningful' film and when they launched into song at the drop of a hat, it got quite amusing (though I am not sure that was the intention). What I would call a fluffy film - no substance to it but I didn't fall asleep and I did tap my feet a few times!