Photo: Universal Pictures
SING 2
Sing 2 is the first movie from Illumination Animation in years, and their musical sequel is poised to be the big family movie of the holidays. The movie is a lot of fun, and the show-within-a-movie is impressive for a film of any size. Unfortunately, for the many smiles Sing 2 elicits, it’s all spectacle and no substance.
If you saw the first Sing in 2016, about some dedicated animal singers putting on a show at the last minute, you’ll love Sing 2, which is….about some dedicated animal singers putting on a show at the last minute.
More specifically, koala (and revue producer) Buster Moon (Matthew McConaughey) is happy with his local theatre he successfully built in Sing but has still bigger dreams. He pulls off a ruse to stage his biggest show ever, this time in Redshore City (think family friendly Las Vegas) with his large cast of singing animals from the first movie.
Illumination, the studio behind the Despicable Me and Secret Life of Pets series, is not known for depth in plots or themes, but the original Sing was more ambitious because it tried to be more than just an animated comedy.
It was more introspective and knew when to use subtlety instead of bombastic showboating to let audiences build an emotional investment with the musical animals.
As Sing 2 abandons all hope of subtlety and nuance, it feels more disappointing than normal because it’s clear that’s what returning writer/director Garth Jennings thinks he’s succeeded at.
There’s a lot of talk about dreams, drive, and what it takes to be successful in show business. Yet for all the talk of just “working hard” against literal-cartoonish obstacles, the discussion among the characters is generic, and there’s no real moral lesson other than "work hard beyond your breaking point and don’t worry if there are consequences."
Universal Pictures
That’s an outdated and superficial look at how show business works. A show director indulging the egos of bad performers and lying to them? Allowing obvious nepotism in casting? Business leaders openly insulting the actors? The producer threatening physical harm (up to and including murder?!) if something goes wrong?
How does ANY of that promote good leadership or a healthy creative environment? The answer is: it doesn’t. And including these things in the plot for the sake of comedy is a terrible way to write a kid’s movie - especially when it serendipitously ends up just fine in the end.
Having said all of that - there’s a lot to like in Sing 2. The music choices, and performances of the pop tunes catalogue, are great. The animation is beautiful. And the final show, when it finally makes it to the big theatre? It’s an animated showstopper.
Kids will have a lot of fun watching this, and it’s a surprisingly enjoyable diversion for the parents bringing them to see this. This is far from a well-told, grounded story worth two hours of your time, but it will effectively get your toes tapping on several occasions. (I really liked the "Let’s Get Crazy" opening on the Alice in Wonderland set.)
Don’t, however, focus too much on remembering who everyone is: there’s WAY too many characters to remember everyone’s names, and having over a dozen featured animals in the final show mean we don’t really get enough time to develop anyone’s characters.
It’s clear several of these parts were written simply to accommodate more celebrities in the voice cast, and of the new additions, the only one who brings anything really interesting is, and I promise this is true, U2 frontman Bono as lion Clay Calloway, a washed-up rock star coming back into the spotlight.
The end result of the movie admirable, but there’s nothing specific about why we should care this ragtag group of performers succeed. It’s better than some animated musical revues, like Trolls: World Tour, for example, but that’s not high praise.
Every joke, song, gag and performance is meant to elicit smiles. More often than not, Sing 2 succeeds at entertaining. Sadly, all the showmanship is as fun to watch as it is soulless.
Sing 2
5 out of 10
PG. 1hr 53mins. Animated Family Musical Drama.
Written and Directed by Garth Jennings.
Starring Matthew McConaughey, Bobby Cannavale, Reese Witherspoon, Scarlett Johansson, Taron Egerton, Tori Kelly, Garth Jennings and Bono.
Now Playing at Film.Ca Cinemas, 5 Drive-In, Cineplex Winston Churchill and Cineplex Oakville & VIP.
