I recently rewatched one of my favorite sequels in recent memory, the lovely Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again. As a sucker for musicals and ensemble casts, this movie and the original are right up my alley. These are the movies that brought Christine Baranski into my life, that made me realize I would have been such an ABBA stan if I had been a teen in the seventies and eighties, that reinvigorated my faith in musical-to-film adaptations, and that made me wish I had bouncy blonde hair. They may not be the best acted or most well-crafted films of all time, but by god are they entertaining.

During my recent rewatch, I was on a plane watching the movie on my iPad. Several times throughout I found myself smiling like an idiot at the movie, mostly during the many musical numbers. And since I am me, I started to rank them in my head. Now that I am back on land and have access to my keyboard, I jumped on the opportunity to write a definitive – and opinionated – list of the 15 musical numbers performed by the main cast in Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again!

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15. One Of Us

This number automatically loses points for not including any of the members of the Dynamos, past or present. Instead, we have a ballad sung by Sophie and Skye in their respective rooms about their current relationship stressors. Of all the many, many plot lines of this movie this is one of the least compelling. We know they are going to be fine and it feels a bit like grasping at straws to up the ante on their relationship. Plus, I am not a huge fan of Dominic Cooper’s voice.

The pair were extremely engaging in the first film, putting together one of my favorite moments (read: Lay All Your Love On Me). Their relationship and storyline drop so deeply from the first to second film. Perhaps it’s the fact that the two actors were romantically involved at the time, but the chemistry between the two is not the same and – even though they are not technically in the same place in this scene – it shows. I am not at all invested in these struggles.

All this said, the filming of this scene is very clever and fun. I just wish the singing was too.

Favorite Line: “One of us is lying in her lonely bed / Staring at the ceiling / Wishing she was somewhere else instead!”

14. Fernando

Turns out Sophie’s grandmother’s long lost lover is…the manager at her new hotel? That feels a little too convenient.

An extra half star for the fact that I love this song and Andy Garcia. Everything else – AKA: the Cher of it all – doesn’t work for me. There are several scenes in this movie that are randomly thrown in there in order to have a song be performed and for the most part they are passable, but this one just feels wildly unneeded. I don’t think this movie needed Cher and I am annoyed that she is in it, so I rank this number lower than I probably would otherwise.

Favorite Line: “Though we never thought that we could lose / There’s no regret / If I had to do the same again / I would, my friend, Fernando.”

13. Knowing Me, Knowing You

Nothing special to see here when compared to the rest of the numbers on this list. It’s a break up song and that’s about all you need to know.

I will go as far as giving the casting director credit for casting a young version of Sam whose voice believably matures into Pierce Brosnan’s voice. Just like his counterpart, I am not having a good time listening to him perform. Especially those “uh-huh” parts. The Sam’s shouldn’t have to sing in these movies and when they do, I automatically dissociate.

The song is catchy though, so I will grant this an extra half-star.

Favorite Line: “In these old familiar rooms / Children would play / Now there’s only emptiness / Nothing to say”

12. The Name of the Game

Lily James prancing around an island in Greece picking oranges and running from a goat while her gorgeous lover snoozes inside? Not at all a plot driver, but I didn’t look away for one nanosecond. The camera’s gaze on Lily James is all of us, absolutely mesmerized by her every move in this film. It’s a true testament to her magnetism in this role that she can grasp your attention by doing little to nothing.

As lovely as she is, there is nothing else to this scene besides the song and the revelation that Sam is engaged. It feels a bit drawn out, but undeniably packs a punch at the end so I guess I can’t fault it too much.

Favorite Line: “And you make me talk / And you make me feel / And you make me show / What I’m trying to conceal.”

11. I Have A Dream

This song is good, but inherently boring in comparison to some of the romps on this list. However, the scene gets some extra credit for tossing between the past and the present in order to build up to an emotional crescendo. Seeing Donna discover the run-down place that would eventually become the hotel that Sophie refurbished in her honor really worked on me. I am such a puppet to the emotional strings they pull in this movie and I will not apologize for it.

Favorite Line: “I have a dream / A fantasy / To help me through reality.”

10. Waterloo

This song makes absolutely no sense in this movie, but I don’t care one bit. It is pure joy captured in a musical number. How can you not smile like a fool during this sequence?! Seriously, I am curious because I actually can’t resist smiling whilst watching this scene.

Favorite Line: “So how could I ever refuse? / I feel like I win when I lose”

9. I’ve Been Waiting For You

Something I adore about these movies is their ability to use Donna and the Dynamos to perform songs that don’t really have any story-related purpose. This allows them to throw in any ABBA song they want and play it off as one of the songs in the group’s repertoire. I find this song to be lovely and the chemistry between Seyfried, Baranski, and Walters to be charming as all hell. But this number lacks what makes these movies so successful. Leaning into large, group numbers filled with choreography and the innate comedic timing of the actors is where these numbers thrive. Without those key traits, this scene doesn’t “wow” in the way some of the others do.

Favorite Line: “I love you, I adore you / I lay my life before you / I only want you more and more / And finally it seems / My lonely days are through”

8. When I Kissed the Teacher

Everything “I’ve Been Waiting For You” lacks is stuffed into this opening number that introduces us to young Donna. Lily James has star power from the moment her blonde waves bounce onto the screen. This song is the type of fun, ridiculous number musicals are built on. Group dance scenes, corny choreography, and bell bottoms – yes please!

Favorite Line: “She was trying to explain the laws of geometry / And I couldn’t help it / I just had to kiss the teacher”

7. Super Trouper

I cannot justify putting this number up any higher on this list since it is a credits sequence. But don’t you just love it!?

Just like the first film, the second brings together the entire cast for a romp as the credits role. I am such a sucker for this. The actors all together, the elaborate costumes, the comical dance moves…it is as musically as musicals get. I smile and shimmy along to this entire song – sans the moments when Cher is on screen, I roll my eyes during those parts. WHY IS SHE EVEN HERE?! This isn’t about you Cher, go away!

Favorite Line: “All I do is eat and sleep and sing”

6. Why Did It Have To be Me

Sometimes all you need to make a good scene is beautiful people, an insane amount of chemistry, and a picturesque backdrop. I will admit that I am super biased on this one because this is one of my favorite ABBA songs and I have the biggest of crushes on young Bill. But damn am I glad they squeezed this scene into this movie, it’s a delight to watch.

Favorite Line: “I only wanted a little love affair / Now I can see you are beginning to care / But baby, believe me / It’s better to forget me”

5. Dancing Queen

Everything about this is absolutely correct. The entire present-day cast comes together in one gigantic musical number filled with boats, extras, and many shades of blue. Just like the rendition of Dancing Queen in the first movie, they pull out all the stops and rock the house down with ABBA’s most iconic song. Perhaps my only complaint is that they did this song so well and pretty similarly in the first one, it was a guaranteed crowd pleaser but they didn’t have to try too hard.

That being said, give me Colin Firth dancing all day long. That is the stuff of legends.

Favorite Line: “With a bit of rock music, everything’s fine”

4. My Love, My Life

Another entry in the “I am a huge softie” portion of this list. This song makes me smile-cry. It makes me want to call my mom and tell her how much I love her. Because at the core of these movies this is a story about a mother and daughter. This movie belabors that point a bit during the length of the film, but this moment so beautifully captures Sophie and Donna’s relationship. As she brings her new child forth to be baptized we get clips of young Donna doing the same with baby Sophie and visions of Donna singing with her in present day. The beauty of a mother watching her daughter become a mother is overwhelming in it’s effectiveness. Any mother or daughter who watches this scene can’t help but feel it all too well.

Plus, Meryl Streep pops on screen for like five seconds and absolutely kicks ass. It wouldn’t have been right if she didn’t get her moment to remind us why she is the woman, the myth, the legend.

Favorite Line: “You are still my love and my life / You’re my one and only”

3. Andante, Andante

My hot take about this movie is that this song, this moment, is the crux of why this sequel is so successful.

Lily James faced an enormous challenge in playing a young version of the oozingly charismatic Donna. To follow up Meryl Streep? Those are some of the biggest shoes to fill. Up to this point in the film she is doing well. She is obviously leaning on her beauty, but her acting leans a bit cartoonish at times. This moment is truly do or die for her to capture the audience as a convincing portrayal of Donna. And she nails it. She captures both the confidence and the sex appeal Donna needs to get herself into a situation where she doesn’t know who of the three charming men she last bedded is father to her child. Her magnetism as a leading woman in a girl group is undeniable. You are lying to yourself if you say you are swooning over her in this scene the way Sam is.

This is a star making performance and I will not hear otherwise.

Favorite Line: “I’m your music / I’m your song”

2. Mamma Mia

It’s that thing where the say the name of the movie in the movie, except they are singing it! The costumes! The song! The energy! How thrilling!

The casting really gets it’s credit in this scene when you see just how well these younger versions of the characters we got to know in the first movie represent their counterparts. These past versions of Donna, Tanya, and Rosie bring all the right stuff to convince the audience they grow up to become the hilarious trio we know and love.

Not to mention they bring back the song for which the movie’s are named in a way that is so different from the first movie and yet equally effective. Plus it is so damn fun I can’t stand it!

Favorite Line: “I can’t count all the times that I cried over you”

1. Angel Eyes

If I could give this number six stars, I would.

I will not hear any other answer to the best musical performance in this movie. This scene is pure comedy and camp. They put things into the capable hands of Christine Baranski and Julie Walters and let these ladies cook. The result is an absolutely iconic sequence that describes the characters – past and present – perfectly and leaves you wishing for more time with these two. Anyone who has been friends with their bestie for a long time understands the back and forth these ladies share, it’s enough to bring a smile to anyone’s face.

It’s without question in my mind that these two are the comic relief of these movies and arguably my favorite part of both. Their chemistry is unmatched with nearly every person on screen. Regardless of whether they are in the background or front and center, they steal the spotlight from their talented costars. I could go on and on,but if you’ve seen the movies you know exactly what I am talking about.

Favorite Line: “When I saw him together with a young girl / And the look that he gave me made me shiver / ‘Cause he always used to look at me that way / And I thought maybe I should walk right up to her and say / Ah-ha-ha, it’s a game he likes to play!”