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Review: 'Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again' outsings the ABBA-fueled original

Just when you think you can't roll your eyes any more at the goofy plot twists, silly lovelorn shenanigans and endless polyester of the jukebox-musical sequel "Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again," somebody starts crooning a catchy ABBA tune to soothe your inner dancing queen (or king, as it were).

Based on the popular stage production, 2008's dreadfully corny "Mamma Mia!" showed that Meryl Streep can actually sing and Pierce Brosnan actually can't. The superior yet still extraordinarily cheesy "Here We Go Again" (★★½ out of four; rated PG-13; in theaters nationwide Friday) suffers from many of the same fundamental problems, though 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.

The original film introduced Donna Sheridan (Streep), who raised her daughter, Sophie, by herself on the (fictional) Greek island of Kalokairi and followed the comedic mystery of the youngster trying to figure out who her real father is among Donna’s three old lovers: Sam (Brosnan), Bill (Stellan Starsgård) and Harry (Colin Firth).

Five years later, Sophie has turned her mom’s picturesque farmhouse-turned-villa into a swanky hotel. Donna’s old friends/bandmates Tanya (Christine Baranski) and Rosie (Julie Walters) are back to help with the grand-reopening shindig, but it’s starting to look like a total disaster.

But the sequel, written and directed by Ol Parker, also interweaves a parallel timeline set in 1979: Young Donna (Lily James) graduates from Oxford with the world at her feet, though she instead traces a path from London to Kalokairi looking to find herself and enjoying romantic escapades with awkward virgin Harry (Hugh Skinner), sailor boy Bill (Josh Dylan) and charming hero Sam (Jeremy Irvine).

The present-day story tends toward the sullen and droll, at least until the arrival of Sophie’s force-of-nature grandmother – a scene-stealing role played by Cher with a complete avoidance of subtlety. The ‘70s tale, though, sparkles with James’ inescapable effervescence: With the help of her disco-ready pals Tanya (Jessica Keenan Wynn) and Rosie (Alexa Davies), Donna stomps her high-heeled gold boots and takes over her graduation with a showstopping number, but there’s a melancholy to her backstory that balances out the more ridiculous musical pieces.

Characters oddly meander right into songs, and fluid transitions between the two stories are pretty nonexistent. At the same time, there’s a bubble-gum sweetness the movie embraces that’s appealing despite its faults.

Brosnan is still no Sinatra, but James is the ringer of the company: She sounds great carrying her male co-stars and harmonizing with Wynn and Davies. And Cher is as awesome as you’d imagine. However, it’s Seyfried and Streep dueting on "My Love, My Life" that really brings the house – and bunches of tears – down. (It’s awfully hard to buy Cher as Streep’s mother, but this is a movie where a dude plays a baguette as a sax, so logic’s not at an all-time high.)

The original "Mamma Mia!" stage show is a greatest-hits package of ABBA tracks, and they probably didn’t envision doing a sequel. While there is some needed overlap – "Waterloo" returns, just so they could do a song in a French café – the best stuff is the deeper cuts, such as “When I Kissed the Teacher” and “Andante, Andante.”

That old ABBA magic can make even a middling movie that much better. Whether it’s “Mamma Mia” or something more obscure, my my, how can I resist you.