Facebook Twitter Instagram
    Latest
    • Thank You
    • 4000. Scenes From A Marriage (1973)
    • 3999. The Pianist (2002)
    • 3998. Philadelphia (1993)
    • 3997. Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975)
    • 3996. The Green Mile (1999)
    • 3995. Doctor Zhivago (1965)
    • 3994. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022)
    The Mad Movie Man
    • Home
    • Blog
      • All Posts
      • Best Of The Year
        • Best Of 2015
        • Best Of 2016
        • Best Of 2017
        • Best Of 2018
        • Best Of 2019
        • Best Of 2020
        • Best Of 2021
        • Best Of 2022
      • The Decade In Review
      • Box Office Analysis
      • James Bond
      • Oscars
      • RANKED
      • Star Wars
      • The Big Questions
      • Top 10
      • World Cinema
    • Ratings
      • Top 250
      • Top 100 Foreign Films
      • Bottom 50
      • 0 – 1.9
      • 2 – 3.9
      • 4 – 5.9
      • 6 – 7.9
      • 8 – 10
    • Genres
      • Action
      • Anthology
      • Animation
      • Christmas
      • Comedy
      • Crime
      • Documentary
      • Drama
      • Fantasy
      • Film-Noir
      • History
      • Horror
      • Kids’
      • Musical
      • Psychological
      • Romance
      • Sci-Fi
      • Short
      • Silent
      • Sport
      • Superhero
      • Survival
      • Thriller
      • Western
    • Release Year
      • 2020s
      • 2010s
      • 2000s
      • 1990s
      • 1980s
      • 1970s
      • 1960s
      • 1950s
      • 1940s
      • 1930s
      • 1920s
    • Country
      • Afghanistan
      • Argentina
      • Australia
      • Austria
      • Belgium
      • Brazil
      • Cambodia
      • Canada
      • Chile
      • China
      • Colombia
      • Costa Rica
      • Czechoslovakia
      • Czech Republic
      • Denmark
      • East Timor
      • Faroe Islands
      • Finland
      • France
      • Germany
      • Georgia
      • Greece
      • Hong Kong
      • Hungary
      • Iceland
      • India
      • Indonesia
      • Iran
      • Iraq
      • Ireland
      • Israel
      • Italy
      • Japan
      • Latvia
      • Lebanon
      • Laos
      • Malaysia
      • Mexico
      • New Zealand
      • Nigeria
      • North Korea
      • Norway
      • Paraguay
      • Peru
      • Philippines
      • Poland
      • Romania
      • Russia
      • Saudi Arabia
      • Singapore
      • South Korea
      • South Africa
      • Soviet Union
      • Spain
      • Sweden
      • Switzerland
      • Syria
      • Taiwan
      • Thailand
      • Turkey
      • Uganda
      • United Kingdom
      • United States
      • Uruguay
      • Vietnam
      • Zambia
    • About
    The Mad Movie Man
    You are at:Home»Review»3312. Walking On Sunshine (2014)

    3312. Walking On Sunshine (2014)

    0
    By The Mad Movie Man on April 10, 2021 2014, 6 - 7.9, 90-99 mins, Apr 21, Comedy, Movies Of 2021, Musical, Review, United Kingdom
    4.7 A ridiculous Mamma Mia ripoff
    • Acting 5.0
    • Directing 5.0
    • Story 4.0
    • User Ratings (0 Votes) 0

    Starring: Annabel Scholey, Giulio Berruti, Hannah Arterton

    Director: Max Giwa, Dania Pasquini

    Running Time: 97 mins


    Walking On Sunshine is a British film about a woman who returns to the Italian coast three years after a passionate summer of love, to attend the wedding of her sister and the man she was once deeply in love with.

    This is a terrible, terrible movie. I was no big fan of the original Mamma Mia!, but this is a pretty lazy and shameless ripoff, with very little in the way of genuinely enjoyable holiday entertainment, cheap musical numbers, a tedious story and only a few laughs that are more often than not at the movie’s own expense.

    There are a lot of things that are infuriating about Walking On Sunshine, but perhaps most of all is the music. The weird thing is that I love pretty much all of these songs, with the movie playing some of the biggest hits of the ’80s, from Wham! to Madonna, The Human League, Katrina and the Waves and much, much more.

    So, for this movie to take so many classic pop songs and turn them into unbearable musical numbers that feel more like listening to nails on chalkboard is frankly astonishing. The singing here is fantastically average, and the dancing is hilariously bad, with terrible choreography that sees the actors almost always out of time with one another and the music.

    Now, it’s easy to say that this is just meant to be a fun holiday movie which is just about normal people enjoying themselves on the sunbaked Italian coast. They’re not professional dancers or singers, and the musical numbers are just a bit of fun to get the crowd going.

    I can see all of those points, but the fact of the matter is that Walking On Sunshine is not a fun movie. It’s boring. If it had a modicum of fun-loving storytelling to it where the romance didn’t feature characters at one another’s throats and so many random musical breaks, then yes, I might have been able to enjoy the movie.

    But given how boring and often exhausting the film is to watch, the moments where the characters inexplicably break out into song just feels like more nails in the coffin for a truly tedious viewing experience. Musical numbers are meant to bring life to the party, not kill off any sense of fun that was left.

    I might say that singing along to these ’80s hits was the biggest pleasure of Walking On Sunshine. But that’s no praise to the movie itself, and I might as well just listen to a playlist or record with these songs on instead of putting myself through an hour and a half of painfully average filmmaking here.

    Somewhere beneath all the ridiculous musical antics is some form of a story, but it’s so generic and predictable that there’s no point bothering to follow it. The characters are bland as anything and so are the performances, with the most entertaining person on screen proving to be Greg Wise, who plays the effective villain of the film as he stalks his soon-to-be-married ex-girlfriend.

    And all of it just comes across as a cold-hearted attempt to cash in on the success of jukebox musicals like Mamma Mia! Don’t get me wrong, I hated that film too, but such lazy, bland filmmaking as what Walking On Sunshine throws up is at times even more unbearable to sit through.

    So, despite its excellent track listing, there’s pretty much nothing good to say about Walking On Sunshine. A tedious, pointless, bland and cold-hearted musical with little talent in front of or behind the camera, it’s a waste of an hour and a half of your time, and that’s why I’m giving it a 4.7 overall.

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
    The Mad Movie Man
    • Website
    • Facebook
    • Twitter

    The Mad Movie Man, AKA Anthony Cullen, writes articles and reviews about movies and the world of cinema. From January 1st, 2013 to December 31st, 2022, he watched and reviewed a movie every day. This is the blog dedicated to the project: www.madmovieman.com

    Related Posts

    8.2

    4000. Scenes From A Marriage (1973)

    7.8

    3999. The Pianist (2002)

    8.2

    3998. Philadelphia (1993)

    Follow Me Online!
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
    • Tumblr
    New Releases
    8.2
    December 25, 2022

    3994. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022)

    5.6
    December 10, 2022

    3969. Falling For Christmas (2022)

    6.9
    December 4, 2022

    3956. The People We Hate At The Wedding (2022)

    5.4
    December 3, 2022

    3954. Disenchanted (2022)

    7.4
    December 3, 2022

    3953. Meet Cute (2022)

    7.6
    November 23, 2022

    3934. Do Revenge (2022)

    7.0
    November 18, 2022

    3929. The Wonder (2022)

    6.7
    November 13, 2022

    3924. See How They Run (2022)

    Recommended Movies
    8.4
    Review
    September 8, 20170

    1883. Train To Busan (부산행) (2016)

    8.1
    Review
    April 14, 20220

    3708. Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999)

    8.9
    Review
    August 9, 20130

    248. Air Force One (1997)

    8.0
    Review
    October 27, 20140

    732. Farewell My Concubine (霸王别姬) (1993)

    8.0
    Review
    January 20, 20190

    2427. Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened (2019)

    Popular Posts
    December 31, 2022

    Thank You

    8.2
    December 31, 2022

    4000. Scenes From A Marriage (1973)

    7.8
    December 30, 2022

    3999. The Pianist (2002)

    8.2
    December 29, 2022

    3998. Philadelphia (1993)

    7.5
    December 28, 2022

    3997. Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975)

    9.1
    December 27, 2022

    3996. The Green Mile (1999)

    7.6
    December 26, 2022

    3995. Doctor Zhivago (1965)

    © 2023 ThemeSphere. Designed by ThemeSphere.

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.