Sing

"When you've reached rock bottom, there's only one way to go, and that's up!"

Filmology Rating: 2.5 out of 4

Sing is the seventh animated film from the money making machine that is Illumination Entertainment.  The company launched in 2010 with Despicable Me which went on to gross $543.1 million worldwide, and has continued to milk its minion franchise, making over a billion dollars.  Earlier this year we were even treated to The Secret Life of Pets which I found to be rather lackluster and forgettable.  I’m not really excited when going into an Illumination film anymore, they are all rather bland when it comes to storytelling and the animation never really seems to improve from film to film.  However Sing was a film I was excited to see when I was walking in, yet what I ended up getting was exactly what should be expected from Illumination Entertainment.  

Buster Moon, voiced by Matthew McConaughey, is the owner of a theatre that is about to fall into the hands of the bank since he cannot pay his bills.  Moon, however, believes that he has come up with the perfect plan to get an audience to come to his theatre: a singing competition.  The optimistic koala bear narrows down the hundreds of applicants to a small group consisting of Rosita, voiced by Reese Witherspoon, Gunter, voiced by Nick Kroll, Mike, voiced by Seth MacFarlane, Ash, voiced by Scarlett Johansson, and Johnny, voiced by Taron Egerton.  Together the group discovers secrets about themselves and about the music that they all love, but will it be enough to save the dying theatre?

The biggest reason that I had to be optimistic going in was the voice cast.  Taron Egerton proved that he has the makings of a movie star with Kingsman: The Secret Service and then proved that he is actually a dynamic actor with Eddie the Eagle earlier this year and now he proves that he has a great set of lungs while performing the song “I’m Still Standing.” Egerton isn’t the only star with a great set of chops, Seth MacFarlane, who has always made his love for Sinatra-esque music known, comes out singing songs like “Let’s Face the Music and Dance” that would make Old Blue Eyes proud.  Sadly McConaughey doesn’t get a song to sing other than giving us a few lyrics from “Call Me Maybe,” which was entertaining but you are left wanting more.  

The biggest fault with the film is the story is incredibly predictable.  A common statement that people usually give me when I say a “children’s film” has a predictable story is that I shouldn’t judge the film so harshly because it was made for children who don't question the simplicity of the storyline.  To those people I suggest that you watch Moana and Inside Out which are both considered “children's films” yet they offer many themes and ideas that will make many adults happy as well.  

Buster Moon himself is too optimistic and the only reason I consider that to be a fault of the film is because it is setting up children who see this film to have false hopes.  The film is saying that you should go out into the world and make any entertainment you want, it could be terrible, but it’s alright if you lie to the bank and every person under your employment because you are making art.  As someone who wants to be a theatre owner I find this idea to be preposterous.  I understand the risks that come with trying to open something new and the risks that it might fail.  Moon never realized this and even when he was at his lowest, he learned nothing.  He nearly killed everyone in his theatre but since this is an Illumination animated film, you can’t expect consequences for your actions.  This is the wrong lesson to be teaching our youth.  Yes, I’m all for dreaming big and reaching towards the stars but you also must realize that journey will be hard and it will throw everything at you and you must find someway out if you wish to capture that dream.  

Illumination Entertainment will never stop making movies if audiences go out to see them and I would never want them to stop.  Every film they make has the nugget of a good idea but they never flesh it out past that nugget.  Their films are clearly made for the younger audience crowd which if you are looking for a movie to take the entire family to this holiday season I would say this would be the one.  It will leave your children happy, won’t offend anyone, and has a diverse enough soundtrack that everyone will find a tune that they find enjoyable.

Rating: Rent It   

-Jonny G