Review: Sing

Directed by: Garth Jennings

Written by: Garth Jennings

Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Seth MacFarlane, Scarlett Johansson

Rating: [3/5]

The promise of going from relative obscurity to superstardom has sustained singing shows stemming from “American Idol” and a slew of others following it like “The Voice.” So many years later and these programs remain immensely popular because singing serves as the equalizer where anyone from any background can come in and rock the house. Sing takes this into a world of anthropomorphic animals delivering just fine results. 

Struggling in maintaining his theater, Buster Moon (Matthew McConaughey) devises the plan of creating a singing competition. When a typo changing the prize money from $1,000 to $100,000 gets released a flood of participants make their way to audition bringing in individuals from all corners of the city striving to achieve their personal dream. 

Illumination as an animated studio has garnered quite the reputation for crafting movies with very lazy plotlines but make boatloads of money with Sing not serving as an exception. They do this through the power of very simplistic stories and in the case of this feature it involves getting a star-studded cast but also utilizing every popular song at the time of its creation to its advantage. The music licensing budget for this feature must have been astronomical. It allowed a sense of safety that it would please pretty much everyone therefore not taking any sort of narrative or thematic risks. Sure, I can knock it for it but this studio just wants to pump millions back into the studio by providing the most populist animated movies ever and they definitively succeed at that. 

As cynical as we can be about this movie, it does delve into some lovable characters who face their own issues they hope to overcome. The film does a very good job of getting us invested in them and assembling individuals who may be overlooked for varying reasons. You have the stay-at-home pig mother Rosalita (Reese Witherspoon) who wants to be recognized as more than just a mother of 25 little piglets. She has her own talents and seeks to show them off. You then have Johnny (Taron Egerton) a teenage gorilla who does not want to partake in a life of crime just like his father but wants to succeed as a singer. Each of these individuals enters the story with their own issues and aspirations allowing for some moments of euphoria when they eventually do achieve it. 

It starts well, certainly, but the film does begin to falter at times with maintaining a plot throughout the feature. This film has a simple concept but when going from the first act to the third where the actual singing competition would take place, it flails for life in that arduous second act. They try to navigate the central conflict but it never provides anything remotely interesting and just left me in the place of waiting until we got to the actual singing competition. Thankfully, when it does reach the finale it all comes together so well to leave you on a high note no matter your feelings about what preceded it. 

When I tell you this feature brought together a stacked voice cast of actors, you just know this studio opened up the wallet book in order to entice each of them. From Matthew McConaughey to Resse Witherspoon, Taron Egerton, Scarlett Johansson, Seth McFarlane, Nick Kroll, John C. Reilly, Nick Offerman, Leslie Jones, and so many more they definitely enjoyed putting these names next to their animated counterparts in the trailer to tell you who voices these characters. Of them all, the one who left the biggest impression on me was Egerton and his portrayal of Johnny. He certainly stands out because of his British accent but it felt like he did well enough in taking on the inherent sadness in the gorilla and the big decisions he needs to make. Everyone else I could take or leave if I’m completely honest. 

Very much appealing to kids and anyone who enjoys some pop music, Sing does not come in with sky-high aspirations and it certainly does not come close with its quality. It remains something worth watching if you need something on in the background but good enough to even pay attention to when focusing on these aspirational characters and the dreams they want to achieve through this competition. Not great but just fine, which this film would take any day of the week considering all of the cash it shoveled into the studio.