REVIEW: SingBy Quinn OxleyDecember 22, 2016Now I just want to watch The Lego Movie.
Theater mogul Buster Moon must put on a singing contest… for some reason? I suppose it’s to save his theater, but that’s not made clear, exactly. This contest brings the community together, and carries the characters through their various difficulties.
Some modern animated movies – Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Storks, the aforementioned Lego Movie – have an original plot, voice talent that illuminates the writing, and excellent grasp on this generation’s sense of humor. This is what turns an animated movie into an instant classic. And this is what Sing is lacking.
Alright, so the movie had an excellent cast. It made a nice change to hear Matthew McConaughey speak without languishing in the lower octaves. ScarJo, Seth MacFarlane (boy can he sing), Reese Witherspoon, and Taron Egerton (longing sigh) all have their parts to play, as well as at least ten more namable actors in bit parts.
However, its cast is pretty much the only thing remarkable about Sing. It wasn’t a bad film, but it wasn’t… memorable. At all. The plot is fairly color-by-numbers. Regarding the characters, there came a point in the film where one character’s arc resumed and I legitimately thought, “Oh, I forgot about them.†The high point of the music was the original â€Under Pressure,†which played over a montage; most of the rest (save MacFarlane’s and Tori Kelly’s performances) reminds me too much of Kidz Bop to be enjoyable.
One more thing not in this film’s favor was this year’s release of Zootopia. While it wasn’t my personal favorite, Zootopia enchanted audiences earlier in 2016 and remains to this day on the list of the Internet Movie Database’s 250 highest-rated movies of all time. This being the current benchmark for movies centering on a society of anthropomorphic animals, anything else doing the same without the charm will pale in comparison. As an adult viewer, I was left pretty confused as to why this story had to be told with animals.
Is it good, though?
It’s fine, if you’re looking for safe family entertainment. It’s got an interesting and heartfelt portrayal of characters in difficult life situations, for a kids’ film; that’s something to be said for it. But don’t expect to be much enthralled or inspired.
Rating: 5/10
2016 © ScreenFellas Entertainment
