If there ever was a film that had plenty of promise, and winds up flailing under a “message” sort of ending, it’s Sing. With an impressive cast, even by an animated film’s standards, Sing starts out as a great parody of singing competitions and winds up going in a much different direction.
Buster Moon (Matthew McConaughey) is a theater owning koala in need of a big hit. With a bank note on his theater, he comes up with an idea: a singing competition. Desperate for a hit, after a number of failures, a misprint on the notice leads to a citywide competition and a buzz around his production. We follow Buster as he desperately looks to get the money while preparing for a big singing competition.
Sing is interesting up until this point, if predictable. Buster is looking for a way to pay for the contest, a $100,000 one that was supposed to be $1,000, and the film is fairly amusing at this point. Buster is an interesting character and desperate for a hit; the film also has fun spoofing singing competitions and it seems to be aiming for a big finale where all is exposed. It goes in an entirely different direction in the film’s final act.
It’s the final act where the film goes from an interesting combination of caper film and musical into something aimed at manufacturing a happy ending. It’s happy … but it’s not a good ending. It takes what looks like an interesting take on the musical, with elements of The Producers mixed in, and winds up dashing into a feel-good moment that has nothing to do with the film’s original intent.
It leaves the film remarkably uneven. Sing was a hit, and has a sequel slated for 2020, but it’s not remarkable enough for anything other than a quick rental. Recommendation to avoid.
The 4k Blu-ray is loaded with special features on top of the audio/video improvements from the Blu-ray.
Universal presents Sing. Written and directed by Garth Jennings. Starring Seth MacFarlane, Matthew McConaughey, Scarlett Johannson, Reese Witherspoon, Nick Kroll, Nick Offerman. Run Time: minutes. Rating. Released on:
