Produced by Illumination Entertainment and distributed by Universal Pictures (the company behind Despicable Me and Minions) Sing is a 2016 animated musical comedy. Directed by Garth Jennings, the film features Matthew McConaughey as Buster Moon, a koala and owner of a failing theatre who hosts a musical competition to raise funds to keep it running. Those who audition for the show include: Rosita, a shy pig and overworked mother (Reese Witherspoon); Mike a lounge/jazz singing mouse (Seth MacFarlane); Ash, a punk rock hedgehog (Scarlett Johansson); Johnny, a gorilla, and youngest son of a notorious mob boss (Taron Egerton); and Meena, an elephant with severe stage fright (Tori Kelly).
+ the voice cast is fantastic. McConaughey, Johansson and Egerton were all standouts, and Nick Kroll as Gunter, a particularly flamboyant and animated pig was a personal highlight. Peter Serafinowicz as Big Daddy, Johnny the gorilla’s crime lord father, was most impressive
+ for an animated musical, I found the movie to be very funny at times. Whether it was the same ‘animals doing things differently to humans’ gag, such as in Zootopia, or just the straight up jokes, I laughed more than I thought I would
– it is a very cliched story, in almost every way. Failing theater, musical competition, prize money etc. are all things you’ve seen before, but at least they serve more as story points to push the singing and laughing along
Should you see this film: After Zootopia and The Secret Life of Pets, this could have gone either way. Thankfully, it was more like the former, with enough laughs and a catchy soundtrack to keep you interested. Obviously, kids may get more out of it than adults, but if you are stuck babysitting you might enjoy it more than you’d think.
MoshFish Reviews 