Sing

Voices of: Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Scarlett Johansson, Seth MacFarlane, John C. Reilly, Taron Egerton, Tori Kelly, Jennifer Saunders, Garth Jennings, Peter Serafinowicz, Nick Kroll, Beck Bennett, Jay Pharoah, Nick Offermen, Leslie Jones, Rhea Perlman
Directed by: Garth Jennings, Christophe Lourdelet
Rating: PG
Genre: Animation, Comedy, Musical
2016

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A theater owner (Matthew McConaughey) creates a singing competition for publicity to save his theater.

Review:

Tim: So Illumination Entertainment made an animated movie about cute talking animals who are engaged in an American Idol/The Voice type singing competition? Oh, you sly, sly people. It's no surprise that this would bring people in droves, racking up $270 million at the box office. It's a great idea, and with at least decent execution, you were going to have a hit on your hands. I enjoyed Sing, although it does have some flaws (which I will discuss).

First, though, the brilliance of this film. Let's have cute, funny animated animals singing popular songs in a singing competition. I mean, this is so smart. Talking animals + good music is a recipe for success. I'm surprised someone else hadn't done this already. The kids will love the animals, the adults will enjoy hearing songs they know and love. I really give Illumination credit for this idea. Now, the story itself is not nearly as strong as it could be. It starts as a singing competition, then it's some big theater production? There's a ton of subplots, most of which aren't as interesting as the main plot. I don't know, the whole thing gets a little unfocused and messy. But even still, the story as a whole works and it's enjoyable.

One of the issues I had with the film is that there's really not many memorable characters. Buster Moon is probably the closest, but even still, I had to look his name up. The gorilla was cool, but really, the animals themselves don't emerge as truly memorable, entertaining characters. There's not a single instant classic character among them. That hurts the movie. Animated films are so much better when there's a character that never leaves your mind- an Ariel, Simba, Woody, etc. (I know those are all Disney examples- there's a reason for that). This film never manages to create an upper echelon character.

The cast is pretty good. Matthew McConaughey works well as Buster Moon, again, perhaps the best part of the film. Reese Witherspoon was fine, although I don't know if there was anything outstanding about her voice work. Seth MacFarlane was in his wheelhouse here, so although his character was weak, his voice work is strong. Taron Egerton really surprised me by giving an exceptionally strong performance. He was one of my favorites in the cast. The rest of the cast worked well, John C. Reilly, Nick Kroll, and the others all added in good work.

The story has its up and down moments, but thankfully, whenever things started to feel a little weak, there's a popular song that reinvigorates the film and injects new energy into it. This formula was never going to turn Sing into a great animated film, but it made it entertaining.

I've really struggled with taking Illumination Entertainment seriously. They feel miles away from Disney/Pixar and are clearly beneath Dreamworks. I've never liked any of the Despicable Me films. The Secret Life of Pets was pretty bad. The Lorax was okay. When you look down the list, Sing is probably the best film Illumination has ever put out. That's a really big win for the studio, but at the same time, this is only a good movie. It's still significantly worse than the best animated films coming out of Hollywood today. This movie is good, but it's too forgettable- it doesn't have enough staying power. It's yet another animated film. That might be good for the studio, but it's not good enough. I hope the quality of their films increase. Sing is at least a step in the right direction.
Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Despicable Me, The Secret Life of Pets, The Lorax, Hop