SING – Review

Hey gang, let’s put on a show! We can save the (school, rec center, etc.)” That’s been the rallying cry of many a movie musical, going back to the “Our Gang” comedies right up to the recent charmer SING STREET (the reason there was to impress a girl and tick off the school officials), but it’s usually associated with the squeaky-clean team-ups of Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney from the 30’s and 40’s. This old plot gives us a ragtag group of plucky “go-getters” joining forces in creating a spectacular that will “wow” the masses. And there’s usually lots of backstage drama and romance as the clock ticks down to the big opening night (the best parody is probably Christopher Guest’s “mockumentary” WAITING FOR GUFFMAN). Could this type of tale be told with animation? In a world of talking, dancing, singing animals, perhaps? That’s what the fine folks at Illumination Entertainment (the DESPICABLE ME flicks, MINIONS, and the big hit from this past Summer THE SECRET LIFE OF PETS) decided to explore. C’mon you menagerie you, get out there and SING!

As a lil’ koala bear, Buster Moon is in love with live theatre, so when he grows up he becomes the owner/operator/manager of the golden palace he adored. But the gold is starting to tarnish, and the stage shows just aren’t bringing in the crowds (plus the bank is threatening to foreclose). Luckily Buster (voice of Matthew McConaughey) comes up with a plan to save his beloved theatre: a musical talent show. Everyday folks will sing and dance before a set of judges, all for a big cash prize. Hmmm, about that prize…Buster has his trusty, but somewhat addled, assistant, an elderly lizard named Miss Crawly (Garth Jennings), whip up the promotional flyer. But the grand prize amount is accidentally changed from one thousand bucks to a hundred thousand. And a gust of wind sends them gliding through the city! They attract the attention of many, many aspiring performers. There’s Rosita (Reese Witherspoon), exhausted momma pig to countless piglets, whose marriage has gotten into a rut. Singing on the streets is the ultra-cool mouse Mike (Seth MacFarlane), a real “rat pack” wannabe with a taste for the high life. Rock and roll porcupine queen Ash (Scarlett Johansson) is part of a struggling duet with her less talented, arrogant beau. Maybe it’s time to go solo? A teenage gorilla named Johnny (Taron Egerton) yearns to croon pop ballads rather than drive the getaway car for his dad’s outlaw gang. And the family of the shy elephant Meena (Tori Kelly) thinks that this contest will let the world experience her gorgeous voice. Buster panics when he learns of the prize snafu, but somehow, with the help of his best pal Eddie (John C. Reilly), he’ll scrape together the cash and make everyone’s dreams come true.

You may get an idea what the film’s biggest problem is from the preceding paragraph. There are far too many subplots! The main story would have been much better served by limiting the focus to three or four contestants. As it plays, the whole movie seems bloated. I prefered the story of Johnny and those gangster gorillas (maybe a spin-off?). As it is, many of the “side tails” are beefed up with pointless “side tracks”(what was the point of Rosita’s grocery number? McConaughey tries to bring some energy (he’s usually a reeeaaall “laid-back” dude) to the big furry producer, but the character’s just not interesting. Bland really. Unlike his work sidekick Miss Crawly. There’s some funny slapstick business involving her fake eye, scenes that really inject some life into the flick (it figures that the writer/co-directer Jennings would lend his voice to her). The character design is inventive, but the tendency in CGI animation to “over-render” can often be distracting. Did we need to see every hair strand, or in Ash’s case, every quill? Another overused effect is the rapid “camera pans” zipping through the city streets to stop just inches from another contestant. It’s as though we’re strapped to one of Hawkeye’s trick arrows.Some trims to the initial auditions would’ve helped a great deal. After seeing three or so unlikely animals singer/pop song pairings, the gag becomes tiresome. The whole film suffers in comparison to this year’s other movie set in a city populated by human-like animals of all types, ZOOTOPIA (going back even further, there’s the still-entrancing 1980’s cartton classic ANIMALIPICS). And the notion of a mixed menagerie putting on a big revue was more engaging in the 1930’s theatrical shorts such as the “Silly Symphonies” and the “Merrie Melodies”. “American Idol” ended a couple of years ago (although “The Voice” is going strong), so the main plot feels a bit played out. SING has lots of talent at the keyboards (musical instruments and computers), but it hits far too many wrong notes . “Pitchy”, indeed!

2 Out of 5