Film Review: Sing

As far as animation films go, they’ve been fairly hit and miss in the last few years. Films such as The Secret Life of Pets (2016) and Penguins of Madagascar (2014) had a lot of hype built around them, but didn’t quite deliver. However, this may be the film to redeem animation.

One skill that this genre seems to have lost is engaging not only kids, but also adults. The Toy Story franchise is a perfect example of this. If you can not only gain a child fan base, but also entertain their parents, you’ve basically nailed it. This Garth Jennings and Christophe Lourdelet co-directed film is the most recent to try and entertain all ages, and thankfully it’s succeeded.

The story, while managing to keep its originality, is as simple as it gets. A bankrupt, failing koala, called Buster Moon is the lead, and is voiced by one of the most recognisable of voices in Hollywood: Matthew McConaughey. Buster needs to create a new show to save his theatre and his career. He comes up with the idea of a singing contest, however, in a typing mishap while making leaflets, accidentally offers more money than he has to his name.

In true movie fashion, he keeps this information to himself, but his lie eventually comes back to bite him in the arse. Moon has to hit rock bottom before one painfully shy elephant, voiced by Tori Kelly, with a powerful enough voice to make your hairs stand on end, convinces him the show must go on.

The contestants are made up of a bunch of completely different, and yet all totally relatable mix of animals. The first is a pig, who is mother to 25 piglets, and gave up on her dream to be a star many years ago, voiced by Reese Witherspoon. Another, more flamboyant and confident pig named Gunter, played by Nick Kroll helps her to unleash her inner star-status. Scarlett Johansson lends her voice to a rock star teenage porcupine. Seth MacFarlene joined the cast as potentially the most unlikeable character; an egotistical small white mouse. Finishing up the line-up is a piano-playing gorilla with a pushy father who wants him to join in the illegal family business of burglary. He is voiced by Taron Egerton.

The diversity in each character also means that it would be impossible not to relate to at least one. However, this isn’t the only appeal from the characters, with some simply being hilarious. Buster’s elderly and frail assistant, an iguana named Ms Crawley, voiced by the director, Garth Jennings, is a perfect example of this. She’s one of the most comical and endearing characters animation films have ever created.

However, the cast isn’t the only thing that makes this film stand out. The way in which the film manages to poke fun at the heaps of talent shows taking up weekend slots on our TV’s is at times, genius. From changing the contestants to the point of being unrecognisable, to putting opposing strangers together in order to create a sellable product of a band/duet, the similarities are very cleverly wound into the film.

However, the ending is much more uplifting, exciting and fun than the endless talent shows we’re used to. The performances by the contestants are so enjoyable in fact, that you may forget you’re watching an animation movie, and be tempted to clap after each one.

The incredibly enjoyable soundtrack, added to a brilliant cast and a completely original story line make this a stand-out film. The intelligence and perfect timing with the humour means that at times you won’t be able to stop laughing. However, behind the laughter, there’s a real story full of characters that have you invested within the first five minutes. It’s a film that works for any audience, of any age, and has proved that animation isn’t dead.

Sing is showing in Nottingham cinemas now.