From the studios that gave us ‘Despicable Me’ and ‘The Lorax’ comes yet another enjoyable animated film, that’s truly a good time for the entire family.
Directed by Garth Jennings (The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Son of Rambow), ‘Sing’ focuses around the world of anthropomorphic animals; mainly the ones who are passionate about singing. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t sure of what to expect. I love kids films and animations, but I’m usually only hyped up for the latest Disney and/or Pixar films (I’m so biased, I’m sorry). Heck, I’ll even stay away from other trailers unless the film has a voice actor that I’m a big fan of.
That’s what happened with ‘Sing’. I never checked out the trailer and went in blind. I knew who the voice cast was so I had middle ground expectations. But let me just tell you, this film goes beyond that. Sure, I had a couple of issues with it (which I will get into soon) but overall, it’s truly a fun and light family film that everyone’s going to love. Your kids are going to love it, your little siblings, even your parents. I sat next to a father who accompanied his kids to the theatre and I found him chuckling throughout the film. The film understandably has a lot of music flowing through, and there’s music for every age.
From Taylor Swift covers, to background music featuring the likes of Queen, Stevie Wonder and Cat Stevens – almost everyone is going to be singing along.
‘Sing’ tells the story of a very theater loving, business centered Koala named Buster (Matthew McConaughey) who seems to be avoiding paying off his bills. He struggles to keep his theatre open, one that he created with his father and does whatever he can to keep it alive – even if that means scamming a few people. He has the idea of holding auditions for a singing competition, with a grand prize of $1000. But here’s where it goes wrong. His helpful assistant Ms. Crawly (voiced by the director Garth Jennings himself) accidentally sets free flyer that advertises $100,000 as the grand prize. Talk about a typo, am I right?
And so we have our cast. A mountain gorilla named Johnny (Taron Egerton) who has a passion for music but defies his criminal father by joining the competition instead of helping him rob banks and steal gold. Ash (Scarlett Johansson), a punk rock porcupine who has her heart broken and uses this as a platform to dive into the songwriting game. Mike (Seth MacFarlane), a small white mouse with a little bit of an attitude problem, who sings as beautifully as Frank Sinatra. Meena (Tori Kelly), a shy elephant who could easily win the entire competition but struggles to break out of her shell. Rosita (Reese Witherspoon), a stay at home pig who devotes her life to her husband and 25 piglets, while secretly dreaming of the stage. And Gunter (Nick Kroll), a German pig who partners up with Rosita and essentially helps her be freer on the stage and dominate the show.
All of these actors have exceptional talents.
I was surprised to find out that Tori Kelly was a part of the cast, but it was an extremely pleasant surprise. All of them have unique voices that truly make you feel as though you’re watching an animated version of American Idol (although the film is more entertaining). Like any music-based competition show, each character brings their own to the film. They all have contrasting personalities, yet they manage to come together so elegantly and it’s just an overall fun time, especially for the kids.
I can’t help but think this film would do well for kids in some aspects. Take Meena – the shy, quiet girl with an abundance of potential that everyone can see. She eventually breaks out of her shell because of the support she receives from her friends and family and steals the show. I can guarantee if there’s a little girl in that theatre with the same personalities, she’s going to feel inspired to break out.
There’s a lot of catchy Pop music in the film, which is expected, and they do play in snippets which can get a little frustrating. Tori Kelly delivers a beautiful cover of Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen (as she similarly did at the 2016 Emmy’s), while Seth MacFarlane covers My Way by Frank Sinatra. Although the music has more of the Pop songs of today, it doesn’t take away from the film. That’s exactly what you need to entertain the kids sitting in the theatre.
Give them music they can sing along to and dance to, while watching a lovely animation about purpose-driven animals they can identify with.
The minor problem I had with this film was how some female characters were treated. Now, this is a film aimed for kids and they will practice certain things that are shown on screen because they’re going to think “hey, I saw that in the cinema so it must be okay to do!”. Take Rosita for example. She’s completely devoted to her piglets and husband Norman (voiced by Nick Offerman) who pretty much ignores her at home. He goes to work, comes back, eats his dinner and gets into bed. Rosita is constantly neglected and left to take care of the twenty five kids the couple has, while putting aside her hopes and dreams. Norman doesn’t even notice Rosita isn’t around when she builds an elaborate contraption to get her kids ready for school, when she was unable to find a babysitter. Of course, kids aren’t going to notice this. They’re kids and they want to have a good time. But it bothered me because it is possible for a little boy to see this and think this is okay to do. Yes, Norman eventually sees how beautiful his wife is at the end of the film, but it shouldn’t take that long for a husband to realize that his wife is an actual living being who could use a break sometimes.
Putting that aside, I will also admit that this film doesn’t have the emotion or depth as previous animations like ‘Inside Out’, and it really doesn’t need to. It’s a light-hearted film for families who just want to laugh together. If you like music and animation, I would definitely recommend taking your families to see this film.
Tickets were provided by Novo Cinemas!
