Sing is one of those movies that I never expected to enjoy. When it was released in 2016, it wasn’t even on my radar when it came to future cinema trips. My wife however? Almost every single animated movie is a must watch. It wasn’t until she put it on (I believe it was on Netflix) that I watched it, and couldn’t believe how much I actually enjoyed it. So was Sing 2 destined to be the next Illumination Entertainment movie to surprise me?
In short, Sing 2 is Sing but on a bigger scale. Instead of taking place in a small community theatre that is hosting a cute talent show, this one moves up a few steps into a Las Vegas type city known as Redshore, while our favourite singing critters make their way into the world of Crystal Entertainment. When the gang get their wish of performing their show in the big city, Buster Moon (Matthew McConaughey) looks to something even bigger: recruiting retired rock legend Clay Calloway (Bono) to join them.
So then, did Sing 2 surprise me as much as its predecessor? In a word: no. However, Miss Crawly singing along to Chop Suey in her car made me feel more seen than ever before.
But why is this sequel not so great? Honestly, the plot in this one is not good enough. There are too many different threads for a relatively short movie, so everything becomes a bit tangled and messy. Of course, since this is a sequel, they had to go bigger with Sing 2, but in some ways it falls into the Cars 2 trap in that it loses its charm as a result of that magnification.
Despite a rocky script, it’s not all bad and some of the joy still remains. There’s so much great music going on in this one that if nothing else, you can treat it as your jukebox for the evening. On top of that, you may know that one of my main criteria for an animated movie is how well they animate the hair. And you know what? These guys are really good at it! Bono’s mane is particularly lovely (a weird phrase, I know) and they get bonus points for somehow creating a convincing short, fuzzy hair/fur coat on the animals.
Most animated films these days have an unnecessarily talented and famous voice cast, and this is no different. Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon and Scarlett Johansson make fun, musically gifted returns, and I really enjoyed the inclusion of Chelsea Perretti’s comedic talents this time round. Overall though? It’s just not as good as the first one and if you think otherwise, you’re lying to yourself. Many people (wrongly) told me this movie was just as good as its 2016 brother, but I’m here to put a stop to that nasty rumour.
Yesterday, I saw Minions 2, today I watched Sing 2. Which would I rather see again? Minions. All day. If only they could figure out a way of getting Miss Crawly into the next Despicable Me movie…
Sing 2 is currently available to stream on Sky Cinema and Now TV in the UK.
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