Trailer- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYHBD9RF2dk
Rating- PG
Genre- Musical/Drama
Warnings- None
If you are updated with my blog, you would know that I talked about the movie "Sing" before in my rant on, "Why Sing has a Horrible Trailer." It talks about how its 4th trailer seemed to spoiler the entire movie right off the bat. However, I didn't lose a lot of interest in seeing it so as soon as it debuted in theaters, I went over to watch this animated comedy.
"Sing" was made by Illumination Studios, the same company that produced the Despicable Me series, The Secret Life of Pets and The Lorax. It stars a theater owner who is down on his luck and in order to save his theater and bring it back to the glory it once was, he decides to host a singing competition. Through this, we see the lives of several animals who compete in the event and how this experience helps them be an individual in their lives.
Did "Sing" end up impressing me with its story talent or is it a film that should be thrown out of the theaters everywhere?
The story invites a lot of room for popular music to cameo in it. This movie can be called cheap for its often use of marketing popular modern music including songs from Drake, Taylor Swift and Kanye West.
For a movie like this, I feel like people would enjoy more original music, stuff that they haven't heard before. Even if they are bad songs, it's still new and makes the movie more unique rather than looking like they are reaching to promote the top 50 pop hits. Granted, there were a few original songs and they were really catchy and personally I would have liked more of that.
Music aside, the plot of story was really cute with having the animals compete in an concert like performance. I get the moral that they were trying to make, but I highly doubt the characters in the story would really be content with their outcome in the end. The story doesn't even feel competitive even though it is a singing competition. The ending to the story felt too cheesy and cookie-cutter perfect.
Also, it felt like there were too many stories going on at once. If it were just about the contestants then that would be okay, but then we have a plot going on with the theater owner and his friend and his friend's family and...the movie was just so compact with unnecessary plots that could have easily been erased.
Thinking about it, the story has a open ended finish. You're not too sure what will happen after the events and whether things will really be okay with every character.
Main character Buster Moon (Matthew McConaughey) is the owner of the theater and he does address why and how he got into theater in the first place. I was hoping for just a bit more backstory on him because he felt the most bland out the all of the characters and didn't stand out to me. If you asked me to list the major characters in this movie, he'd probably be someone I'd forget.
Johnny the gorilla (Taron Egerton) is a sweetheart and you can't help but love him and how he's very passionate for music. It's his gateway out of the criminal lifestyle he lives with his father. I have no complaints on Johnny, but I am skeptical of how he will end up after the events of the movie. I'm probably looking too much into it, but I feel like Johnny will have more trouble after the story than he did before.
Rosita the pig (Reese Witherspoon) is also so compassionate and lovable that I only hoped the best for her. She is a working mother of...God knows how many children, and she is unappreciated by her husband. She must have been relatable to a lot of parents in the audience so it must have also been satisfying to see her become her own woman and let loose a little.
I'm not too happy though that they often connected her to another character named Bob (Nick Kroll) who is also a pig and was helping her get out of her shell. Bob-while not the worst comic relief ever-didn't feel necessary to the story. I understood why Rosita and Bob worked together, but if they had given Bob more background to his character or more interaction with other characters then he wouldn't feel like such a hinderance.
Ash the porcupine (Scarlett Johansson) was a favorite of mine, she just looked so cool and had a more complex and-what I would consider-risky plot line for a kid's film. I thought it was smart how they handled it, where Ash did clearly debate what was more important to her: her dream or her boyfriend.
Nobody automatically knows between right and wrong, but we must sit back and ponder on where our values lie and if one thing is worth losing another. I believe she did sing an original song for the movie soundtrack and it was exciting and loud and in your face, something the little kids would enjoy.
Also, kudos to the voice actor Johansson for doing a decent job on Ash. After the movie "Lucy" (2014), I didn't care much for Johansson's acting in general because I thought it would come off monotone and bland, but she managed to add flavor to Ash's character and I'm happy about that.
Mike the mouse (Seth MacFarlane) feels like a Seth MacFarlane character that you would find on, "Family Guy," "American Dad" and so on. His personality was so snarky and egotistical, like he had everything in the bag and reminded me a lot about one of MacFarlane's most popular characters, Brian Griffin from "Family Guy" (the Brain after season 3).
Aside from the species change, they're both stuck up and think they're better than everyone else, but at least Mike is more tolerable. Since the movie focuses equally on all of the singers, we don't see too much of Mike to where he would be loathed. It's more funny to see him in his shenanigans and watch him act like a big shot all the time. I'm not sure if he went through a character change, because his ending felt rushed and didn't elaborate on how the events changed him. So for all I know, he developed no character arc.
Lastly, there is Meena the elephant (Tori Kelly) who is the timid teenager with a ton of potential to be a star. It's a little annoying how she constantly backs out on singing in front of an audience and I found that weird that I of all people would find it annoying when I've had trouble communicating before-and sometimes even now, but I wanted to shake Meena and yell, "Sing! You're amazing!"
I would've preferred if she confided to another contestant and sing to them for practice, or show her practicing with her family so we get more scenes of her singing rather than her awkwardly standing around and missing opportunities. Her final performance though is so great, it made me want to get up and sing myself.
A big problem I had with the movie was its transitions, especially in the beginning. There wasn't a chance to be immersed in the scene before it ran off to present another one. This is very prominent when the movie first introduces the contestants of the singing competition; the screen pans to each one are unexpected and happen too soon. I swear, for one of them they didn't even let a character finish his sentence before it panned to someone else.
It threw me off of the movie altogether for a while and just left me in a daze of confusion because the scenes were interesting- especially during the singing auditions- but you only get about 5 seconds of screen time for each contestant and you don't get a chance to laugh or let a moment sink in. I'm not saying give everybody more time, but at least most of the major characters and a few minor ones so it doesn't seem too obvious on who would end up competing against each other. Have them introduce themselves to Moon during auditions or something like that.
The animation is just like the kind you would see in "The Secret Life of Pets" where everyone looks cute and worthy of having their own toy in a Build-a-Bear store. It's a solid and clean animation that is easy on the eye and it's cute to see all the various species and how they live together in a society. Since "Zootopia" (2016) came out earlier in the year, it's easy to see how this film gained inspiration to create innovative ways to have a variety of species living together, this isn't a bad thing at all to have inspiration but it is noticeable.
Would I recommend to see "Sing" with the children? Well, yeah. It's a harmless movie that is fun to watch and easy to follow, but the transitions can be a little wacky and it can also feel like a sneaky way of marketing popular music. The characters are cool and intriguing to follow, but you might be left unsure on how they're lives will end up. You can assume what happens, but you never see it and that bugs me a lot. Still I believe the good outweighs the bad and I will give "Sing" a 3 out of 5 stars.
SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
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The gorilla has the most beautiful voice and his accent is so cute
I never did like "Firework" by: Katy Perry, so listening to it hear was a bit annoying. That's just me.
To be fair, if my singing partner was doing their own thing and not following a certain strategy we already agreed to, I'd be a little peeved as well.
Woah! Did they just cut off Ash's boyfriend's words? I think they did!
Hey, Seth Macfarlane. Voicing another egotistical show off, aren't you?
I'm betting that Meena will win the competition. They put her last in the lineup of introductions and she's voiced by Tori Kelly.
Ash has a great voice too. I just wish they didn't cut off her solo at the auditions!
That Anaconda scene with the bunnies was so cringe-worthy
Cute Japanese animals, but they're playing the joke out for too long with them trying to get into the show. Ultimately, they don't do anything with them so what's the point?
Rosita is the best mom ever, but she would have been so sleep deprived by the time she got to auditions. I'm surprised she doesn't have bags under her eyes.
Okay, wait a minute. Johnny the gorilla sees what Moon wrote about him at auditions, saying that he's a natural born singer. Highlighted that part even...then why did Moon choose the giraffe over him in the first place? He only took Johnny instead because the giraffe was hard to talk to, so you would have thrown away a natural born singer? If Johnny was a natural born singer and originally didn't make it in, then that giraffe has a voice of God.
Becky? Becky...come on, movie.
Wait, Becky had the heart sunglasses but Ash was seen wearing them in the trailer (one of them) so that means she's...ooh, Ash you are awesome! Rubbing it in their face that you're a star!
The squid display was really cool and the music "Flashing Lights" by: Kanye West actually fit the scene.
It's Titanic all over again.
Why are they still trying to cheer up Moon? He lied to them and they won't get their money. Johnny can't break his father out, Rosita can have more stability with the kids, Ash can't make her own music studio (or whatever she wanted). He just wasted their time!
That scene with Moon and Meena felt forced. Like he has to say something to make her upset.
Hallelujiah is the perfect song for anything.
I'm glad that they showed Rosita taking charge and using a plan to rebuild the theater for the show, because it shows kids that having plans are good sometimes when they are necessary and you shouldn't go without a plan all of the time.
The Rosita performance was so fun. I'm really happy for her, but I knew nothing about her partner Bob. Absolutely nothing.
Uhh, Johnny's dad. You'll probably get more years for breaking out.
Frank Sintara. Seth Macfarlane, you sneaky son of a gun. You just had to sing Sintara did you?
Yes Meena!
So what happens now? After all the excitement wear off what will happen? Will Rosita get a more grateful husband? I'm certain she will, but I'd like to see that. How about Johnny and his dad? His dad is in prison, so where will he go? Maybe someone will take him in. Also Ash, will she have the strength to stay away from her boyfriend or feel so guilty for leaving and having no money that she will buckle under the guilt and want him back? Mike is still broke, so I wonder how his relationship will last with the lady mouse.
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