Sing (2016)

Illumination Entertainment moved forward from their overly annoying minions from the Despicable Me franchise to new territory in 2016 with The Secret Life of Pets and their latest release, Sing. Overall, Sing is an upbeat and ceaselessly optimistic film about a group of animals attempting to achieve their dreams of stardom and creative success. However, it fails to truly break any new ground as all the characters come across as various stereotypes lacking deeper complexity and coming in on the heels of the highly successful Zootopia from Disney makes it entirely likely that this film will be forgotten as time passes.

The success of a singing competition will determine
the fate of the bankrupt theater.

Sing follows the story of optimistic Buster Moon (voiced by Matthew McConaughey), a koala who owns a now defunct theater and in a last ditch attempt to save the theater throws a singing competition with the last of his funds as the prize money. Involved in the competition are Rosita (voiced by Reese Witherspoon), an overworked and under appreciated mother pig, Ash, (voiced by Scarlett Johansson) a rebellious teen porcupine, Mike (voiced by Seth MacFarlane), an arrogant and egotistical mouse, Johnny (voiced by Taron Egerton), gorilla son of a mobster leader who only wants to become a performer, and Meena (voiced by Tori Kelly), an elephant who is a natural singer with severe stage fright. The film follows each character's journey through the singing competition along with Buster's own personal struggle in keeping the theater afloat.

Even though each character does come across as an archetypal stereotype, the film is filled with lively musical performances and an infectious positivity that harkens back to the 1997 film, Cats Don't Dance. It also has several highly entertaining scenes and is visually appealing with a bright color palette and great character animation.

Although it is entertaining, Sing adds very few new
ideas to the musical animation film genre.

The film wraps up too conveniently for everyone and makes the lessons of working hard and staying true to your dreams stick a little less. Each character doesn't have too much of a struggle to achieve their dreams and none really encounter too much push back or obstacles. There are no real twists to the film and the plot is tame for easy family holiday fare.

Sing can easily be passed over at the theater and enjoyed all the same on the small screen in your living room. It is nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Animated Feature, however, that is surely going to the highly superior Zootopia. Check out the trailer for Sing below and while it surely isn't anything out of the box or amazing, it's certainly an entertaining watch.

SING is in cinemas in the USA now and opens in the UK on January 27th.