"Wake me up, before you go, go ..."
Hello everyone!
So this blog post is going to be about a blast from the past, so to speak, considering that I should have blogged about this movie ... oh, ages and a number of blog posts ago. To be perfectly honest, I think I actually watched it sometime BEFORE summer started officially (and unofficially) so really, why did it take me so long??
Well, for starters, I got into watching the Tudors at the time (I totally blame you, Maegan, yes, you), and then I was also watching other TV shows trying to catch up (ugh, I still need to see Teen Wolf season 5 to the end ... maybe this week when the other shows haven't started yet), and so this movie review just sort of sat there, in the back of my mind, knowing it needed to be done.
Then I went and forgot about it after returning from vacation with all the goodies, but hey, I FINALLY got to the point where I'm like, you know what? Let's do this.
I'm talking about the Mamma Mia!-inspired Walking on Sunshine.
Okay.
So Walking on Sunshine, basically, caught my interest because I'm a big fan of musical type things, as witnessed by anyone who knows me as I was an avid Glee fan while the show lasted (at least, for the first three seasons, that is). Not to mention, back in the day High School Musical was also a thing for me, and then Mamma Mia, and I checked out West Side Story ...
You get the idea.
Walking on Sunshine was something I would never have noticed if not for the trailer which somehow ended up on my 'suggestions' list on Youtube, and it looked like a fun thing with the sea and the beach and stuff, so I did.
Turns out though, the trailer is much better than the actual thing.
The story goes like this: two sisters, Taylor and Maddie, are complete opposites, one is very serious and wants education, true love, etc, the other has been in and out of relationships, namely with one really bad guy for her, and is impulsive, full of life, etc. Now, Taylor, at the beginning of the movie, is in a relationship with Raf, but it's a summer romance, or os she says, and she's off to university. Three years later, she's back in Italy to vacation with her sister, and she is surprised to be told Maddie is getting married - to Raf!
You can imagine that the remnant of the movie is spent with Raf and Taylor not wishing Maddie to know about their previous dalliance, hiding their feelings for each other, 80s music and a whole lot of Italy-inspired things to do (like, throwing tomatoes at one another and going to the beach at sunset and stuff).
Thing is, Maddie should have done a lot of them with her fiancé, but she leaves TAYLOR to do it in her place, so obviously it's complicated. And not even Raf shirtless can save it.
Eventually though, the truth wins, of course, Maddie learns it all but she accepts it and the hens night progresses, not to mention the stag one, and trust me, if any one of my friends organizes something like THAT for my potential nuptials at any given point in time, I will murder them.
Cheerfully.
Now, this isn't a prolonged sort of thing; by the end of the movie, Maddie makes the decision not to marry Raf, saying Taylor is the one for him, and decides to be single. Taylor belts out 'If I Could Turn Back Time' off a rooftop, and they all have a dance on the beach to make sure they're happy!
Also, the guy who was so bad for Maddie? Kept trying to win her back all movie, ended up strapped into a parachute tugged by a speed boat.
Now, I will say this: for purely entertainment value, the movie is priceless. But even when I want a mindless thing to watch, this one was a bit much sometimes. The story itself seemed a little washed out,but what saved the whole production was the gorgeous Italian town and coast they filmed on, as you can't go wrong with white sands and blue seas, not to mention the sun! I miss it, in the current weather.
Plus, I don't know, when they said the movie would have all the biggest hits of the 80s, I got excited, as Mamma Mia! covered the ABBA songs in a fresh, new way, but this one? Not so much, so it was disappointing.
Also, does anyone else feel like the last number in the movie looks suspiciously like the last one in High School Musical 2?
xx
*images and videos not mine
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