Buster Moon (Matthew McConaughey) is quite the ambitious koala bear. He’s inherited the town theater from his father, who worked hours upon hours of manual labor to give his son the opportunity to chase his dreams. That dream is to run the most successful and talked about theater not just in this town, but any town. Buster fell in love with the theater at a young age and wants to share his passion with the world. It doesn’t matter if the world around him wants nothing to do with him. Mounting debt, dispirited colleagues, and an eviction notice won’t bring him down from cloud nine.
Directors Christophe Lourdelet & Garth Jennings are much like Buster. They have great ambition, to bring joy to the world through music and theatrics. To present a charming animated feature steeped in gorgeously detailed animation, colorful characters, and a bevy of popular songs. Just like Buster, though, their ambition isn’t matched by their goal. The bodacious koala aims low, concocting a singing competition as his next venture. It’s a plan so derivative that even his best friend, lay about sheep Eddie (John C. Reilly), calls him out on it. It’s rather uninspired despite his best intentions, just as “Sing” is.
The main purpose of “Sing” is to attract swarms of families into theaters to watch cute animals sing top pop hits. There’s a pig singing Katy Perry’s “Firework,” a mouse that croons classical jazz, and an elephant performing a beautiful rendition on “Hallelujah.” Some of the songs are rather inappropriate, harkening back to “Kidz Bop” albums, such as rabbits singing Nicki Minaj’s take on “Anaconda” and a gorilla singing Sam Smith’s one night stand melody “Stay with Me.” There’s even an original song from Stevie Wonder & Ariana Grande, “Faith,” thrown in for good measure. There are a total of eighty-five plus songs crammed into the picture.
That’s the problem: the film is overcrowded. Ignoring the smorgasbord of pop songs, there’s one too many characters whose plights don’t get ample time to breathe. Everyone gets equal amount of screen time, but it’s not enough to develop a bond with them. Lourdelet & Jennings are intent on making the cast more than mere stereotypes, but crumble under the weight of the production. Thanks to this, the characters unfortunately amount to nothing more than their stereotypes.
There’s Johnny (Taron Egerton), a gorilla suffering from daddy issues (his father a criminal wanting his son to follow in his footsteps). The bored housewife pig in Rosita (Reese Witherspoon), who yearns for excitement and gets it in the form of her singing partner, Gunter (Nick Kroll), an exuberant pig who prances about gleefully. Ash (Scarlett Johansson) is the moody teenager decked in black and resorting to alternative rock to deal with a recent breakup. The prototypical singing goddess stricken with stage fright is given to an elephant by the name of Meena (Tori Kelly). Rounding out the group is Mike (Seth MacFarlane), who’s essentially Frank Sinatra in mouse form and worthy of a few laughs (I chuckled heartily at his snide remarks and desperation to receive entry into a prestigious night club). Choking up airtime are a litany of minor acts whom get to briefly sing hits from Lady Gaga, Seal, Carly Rae Jepsen, and Paul McCartney, sometimes for comedic effect.
The only character to get proper development is Buster and that’s only because he’s the puppet master. Seeing as how he pulls all the strings, it’s only appropriate that his presence is felt for the majority of the film. He’s there for nearly all of the characters’ woes, encouraging them to believe in themselves, dashing those hopes after his dreams fail, then regaining his and their confidence just in time for the theater-saving finale. It all moves so quickly that none of the drama resonates. Just as soon as a predicament arises, it’s immediately solved. Rosita cracks under the pressure and storms off the stage, only to show up the next day after a dance routine in a grocery store nets her accolades from the workers. Johnny’s father disowns him for leaving the gang in favor of singing, but accepts his son’s new endeavor after watching him perform on TV from his prison cell (which Johnny inadvertently placed him there). It’s hard to empathize with the characters when their problems are solved before they even start.
At least with Buster we see his desire to do good by his father guide him throughout instead of just glanced upon. I forgave his nefarious shortcomings, such as stealing electricity and water from a neighboring building and bouncing checks in order to stay afloat, as it was clear his intentions were good. He only took shortcuts to give the townsfolk a chance to fall into art as he did and is even willing to forego money in favor of instilling joy and wonderment. When his theater collapsed on him, I pitied the poor guy as I felt his disappointment through the pain in his eyes and the dejection in his voice. I can’t say the same for the others, who were cute but simply occupied space.
“Sing” follows a simple formula: introduce quirky characters, have them sing a few popular songs, toss them a dilemma to overcome, then sing a few more popular songs. Rinse, wash, repeat. An occasional gag is thrown in to spice up the proceedings, such as Moon’s elderly iguana assistant, Karen Crawly (Garth Jennings), constantly losing her glass eye (at one point shooting throughout the theater like a pinball). These elicit chuckles, but nothing substantial. I was surprised at the lack of humor in Jennings’ script, though I appreciated the attempt at character depth in its place. Too bad that didn’t amount to much.
Don’t get me wrong: “Sing” is a cute and pleasant film. Kids will love its flashy animation and zippy pacing, no doubt begging for the soundtrack afterwards. Parents will tolerate and possibly enjoy the antics and music, as well as the occasional hidden adult joke (such as Ash catching her boyfriend cheating on her…by singing with another woman, hint hint). I myself found it to be passable, but grew tired of the repetition quickly.
Final Rating: C+