Sing: Review

Sing is directed Christophe Lourdelet and Garth Jennings, staring Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon and Scarlett Johanson and tells the story of a Koala named 'Buster Moon' who's theatre is struggling after many years usage, therefore decides to pump life back into his flagging business by running a singing competition. 

Illumination Entertainment more often then not, create wonderfully fun flicks that are usually targeted at younger audiences as they seem to present more lighthearted and forgettable story lines like 'The Secret Life of Pets' or 'Despicable Me 2' have done in the past. However Sing is certainly a family friendly experience. The opening sets up the protagonist's back story however doesn't take too much of our time to explain the premise, we are briefly told all we need to know as the film then proceeds to excellently set up each character with a short burst of musical accompaniment. This quickly sets up the array of characters whilst maintaining the energetic buzz as the film opens. From there on, Sing is a highly enjoyable adventure throughout.

Wisely, the film chose to take no inspiration from it's works previous storylines and crafted a plot that's so simply sweet yet never feels like a rehash of recent animations. As many children's films mainly chose animals as their core characters, Sing may seem like something we have seen very recently such as Disney's 'Zootropolis' however it's ingenious use of animals with human characteristics, still feels refreshingly original. And that certainly is the film's main triumph, it could have easily over crowded itself with its abundance of characters. However it successfully shows us enough of each character allowing us to relate to them as we see their development throughout the film. Each character complimented one another nicely as they all had completely different personalities which helped the film branch off into more heartfelt moments as the story explores different people and their contrasting relationships, this of course works in favour of the film, adding more depth to the story. It also succeeds by retaining itself from the over usage of annoying characters; it still gives us them... but in short bursts. This could have easily ruined the entire movie but thankfully all loud mouth, irritating characters were shied away from this particular movie.

Whilst at times it can get a little overly silly by repeating the same gags and slipping in a few fart jokes for the little ones, on the whole Sing was incredibly humours and at times made the adults laugh even more than the children. Choked full of quick whited one liners and laugh out loud slapstick moments that reminisce over hollywood greats like 'Laurel and Hardy'. Mainly resulting in the accidental beat up of the hundred and something year old receptionist, the film's comedic timing was perfect. By now it is expected for animations like these to be visually impressive and with just a quick mention, the films graphics just as usual are wonderful. 

A strong message that I felt was apparent in the film was the classic underdog story. Instead of superheroes as it's theme, Sing originally uses Music as it's main inspiration and shows us a group of ordinary animals who aren't your classic skinny, perfect looking singers. A chunky pig, an enormously shy elephant, a moody porcupine, a boyish young gorilla and an aspiring, charismatic koala is what truly makes the film heartwarmingly sentimental. The characters add so many layers to the plot helping it stand out as a film in the genre.

In the end, Sing is a heartwarmingly family friendly film that adds some more originality the genre, beautifully characterised and a fantastically put together soundtrack helped by the stunning voices throughout the film.

I am going to give Sing:

8.3/10