Sing 2; Grade: C+
Sing 2 takes place around the success of Buster Moon’s (Matthew McConaughey) successful musical show of Alice in Wonderland. Buster Moon hoped his show would be considered being a headliner show in Red Shore City, the entertainment capital of the world. However the scout agent didn’t feel Buster’s show has what it takes for the big time, as his show was denied. However that didn’t stop Buster Moon’s aggression, as he took his talented team over to Red Shore City and sneaked in for an audition. Buster’s audition was quickly turned down by Mr. Crystal (Bobby Cannavale) whom is owner of Crystal, however Gunter (Nick Kroll) mentioned past legendary artist by the name of Clay Calloway (Bono) as an idea for the show, as Mr. Crystal then reconsidered and hired them on the spot. Mr. Crystal assumed they would get Calloway to perform, however not only has Calloway not performed in over fifteen years, but no one has seen him as well. Buster Moon put himself in a very difficult spot, however Moon and his team will do whatever it takes to not only bring Calloway on, but to also deliver a knock out show.
I liked Sing, however bringing on a sequel had my head turned because… Is there really a reason for it?! Along with Ilumination quite honestly being the most annoying animation company in the industry… I really had low expectations for this film. Sing 2 or should I call it “Can you name that modern day pop song from the last five years” 2… Wasn’t half bad.
Sing 2 has a nice little message for kids: When your biggest challenge is in front of you, stand tall and proceed to the challenge. Majority of all the characters are dealing with some kind of challenge in this story. Buster Moon has a challenge to deliver this show in Red Shore City and bring in Calloway, Johnny (Taron Egerton) has a challenge of executing dance moves, Rosita (Reese Witherspoon) has a challenge of overcoming her fear of heights, and Meena (Tori Kelly) has a challenge in executing a romantic scene as she extremely shy. As the characters all demonstrated: Cowering in fear will not make you achieve on the challenge presented. In order to achieve any challenge big or small: You’re going to have to stand tall, work on your confidence or practice on the area, put in the effort as surely enough… You are more likely to succeed in achieving any challenge. It’s a simply done message and I thought the film for the most part, executed it just fine enough for kids to learn a well meaningful message.
As far as entertainment value: Sing 2 is kind of fun to watch. There are some couple effective comedic moments here and there, I actually did enjoy some of the singing sequences… I can at least say Sing 2 isn’t dull or irritating to watch, so at least it’s tolerable for adults.
Sing 2 does have many problems and it’s heavily involved with the story and also some of the singing sequences. The story at hand sometimes doesn’t make much sense in several sequences, as it lacks logic here and there. I won’t spoil anything: But the character Mr. Crystal quite honestly doesn’t really make much sense in a lot of sequences. He lacks common sense and also when his requests are indeed fulfilled… Why does he act like a maniac?! Speaking of Mr. Crystal: What is the deal with him and his daughter?! There was absolutely no beef involved with the two, now suddenly in the end, she suddenly acts like he’s been holding her back?! It didn’t make any sense, wasn’t established at all.
I don’t really understand why Buster Moon NEEDS to have a show at Red Shore City, like he has a sold out show in his local theater show, why does he want to make it to Red Shore City?! Nothing was established as this was a dream or passion of Buster Moon’s, he just wanted to have a show there just because?
The singing sequences: Yes a fair amount of them are sung really good, however some of the sequences in terms of the story or even the show doesn’t really make much sense. A lot of the songs sung in the show doesn’t make much sense in terms of what Buster Moon is trying to execute, within his show’s story… Like some of the song selections you scratch your head, because what does this song have to do with this character in Moon’s story at this moment?! I get why they had those songs in there, it’s because the targeted audience knows those songs… HOWEVER that doesn’t excuse the fact it doesn’t correlate with the moments in your movie or Moon’s show even.
I feel my grading for this film would’ve been a little lower, if I actually watched the trailer. Watching the theatrical trailer… They gave away the entire movie in one trailer. Only things I knew about Sing 2 was the fact it was centered around Vegas and characters were terrified of something… I made an assumption there is a serial killer on the loose killing the animals, especially Johnny’s shaking hand reaction. I really wish these mainstream film companies actually knew how to create a good trailer without spoiling anything… It’s really not that hard, just introduce the plot briefly or have the animals sing and walk away, it’s not that complicated.
Overall, Sing 2 was actually average. I recommend checking this one out, it was surprisingly a nice time at the theater, even with a crowd full of families and kids. -Mitch Smietana