Plot
A koala named Buster Moon has one final chance to restore his theater to its former glory by producing the world's greatest singing competition.
Release Year: 2016
Rating: 7.3/10 (2,565 voted)
Critic's Score: 56/100
Director: Christophe Lourdelet
Stars: Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Seth MacFarlane
Storyline
Set in a world like ours but entirely inhabited by animals, Buster Moon a dapper koala who presides over a once-grand theater that has fallen on hard times. Buster is an eternal-some might even say delusional-optimist who loves his theater above all and will do anything to preserve it. Now faced with the crumbling of his life's ambition, he has one final chance to restore his fading jewel to its former glory by producing the world's greatest singing competition.
Cast: Matthew McConaughey -
Buster Moon
(voice)
Reese Witherspoon -
Rosita
(voice)
Seth MacFarlane -
Mike
(voice)
Scarlett Johansson -
Ash
(voice)
John C. Reilly -
Eddie
(voice)
Taron Egerton -
Johnny
(voice)
Tori Kelly -
Meena
(voice)
Jennifer Saunders -
Nana
(voice)
Jennifer Hudson -
Young Nana
(voice)
Garth Jennings -
Miss Crawly /
Additional Voices
(voice)
Peter Serafinowicz -
Big Daddy
(voice)
Nick Kroll -
Gunter
(voice)
Beck Bennett -
Lance
(voice)
Jay Pharoah -
Meena's Grandfather
(voice)
Nick Offerman -
Norman
(voice)
Trivia:
This will be Reese Witherspoon's first animated movie since Monsters vs. Aliens (2009). See more »
Quotes:
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User Review
Author:
Rating: 5/10
Theater producer Buster Moon (Matthew McConaghuey) owns the most
glorious theater in town, but his many failures have brought the
theater gradually into almost falling apart. When the bank gives an
ultimatum to Moon has one last chance to reestablish the theater to its
former glory and he decides to assemble the greatest singing
competition ever put to stage.
By reading that synopsis I don't think anyone would ever believe it
needed to have animals as characters and that cuts right to the
problems "Sing" has, even though it manages to sneak in some good
laughs and funny characters, the final product ends up being a mess,
overlong and stuffed with too much stuff for a single film.
What is sad about this film is that it furthers a pre-conception about
Illumination Entertainment and the more we go on the more that becomes
evident: they are not making movies based on good stories, their
interest is widely oriented towards flashy products that attract kids
and they keep struggling with bringing those ideas on screen in a way
that makes a film pleasant and watchable for all audiences. Their
animation is also inferior to anything we've seen in the genre
recently. So of course they are making tons of money and good for them,
but the more we go on the more I frown when the logo of the company
comes in before the film, it has never meant good news up until now and
that's really sad.
Garth Jennings worked on this project for five years and wrote and
directed this alone, something very rare in the animation world, so he
definitely deserves a huge amount of respect for diving into such an
effort and, admittedly, he comes out with some good stuff: many of the
characters in this film have a great starting point and an effortlessly
comedic dynamic, Miss Crawly, voiced by Jennings himself, is the old
lizard assistant to Moon and almost all of her jokes work, her dynamic
on screen is just comedic gold. Seth MacFarlane also brings to life a
hilarious, irreverent rat with a passion for jazz and that is another
element of the film that really works.
There is also a raw energy to the film that is established through the
music that is passed on to the audience in a positive way for the major
part, it gets you going along with the characters and brings out some
very funny musical gags and jokes that are definitely the highlight of
the film. There's also to consider the fact that the protagonist of the
film is incredibly likable and even though his journey doesn't offer
much emotionally, he remains a strong character with some very strong
traits.
Yet, nothing, not even he incredibly high spirited joyful atmosphere of
the film can save some of the big flaws in the storytelling and the
overall concept of the film. There are no two ways around it: you are
watching a film with anthropomorphized animals and I couldn't, for the
life of me, explain to myself why they were animals and why was this
the medium through which I was watching the film, it is a fatal story
flaw that annoyed the hell out of me, especially considering how big of
a production this is.
Another highly unbalanced element is how the music is handled in the
story. Whilst it does manage to give the film a pleasant beat at times,
for the majority of the film the way in which the characters interact
with it is pathetic and this is coming from someone who has been a
musician for all of his life. The message behind the music, the way
showmanship is represented, the idea of the competition and worst of
all the actual music choice, all of this is handled terribly, it sets a
terrible example for kids and it really disrespects the musician
figure. It does not manage to make the music relevant thematically or
emotionally and that is yet another flaw in how the movie is structured
and brought to life.
Finally, there are many touches of style in the film that fail
miserably. The way the characters are introduced by making the camera
move fast around the city, is one of the laziest and most useless
techniques I have ever has the displeasure to experience in a theater
and I think that everyone involved in taking that decision should
really think about it. It is terribly out of place and adds nothing to
the story or the tone of the film. It is really something that I was
shocked to see employed in an A+ Hollywood production and this is not
the only useless and lazy stylish addition that the film employs.
Overall sing has some good comedic touches, some likable characters and
an overall energetic vibe to favor it, yet the film on a whole does not
stand up as a pleasantly joyful experience because of several flaws
from the inception of the idea to the character development.
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