‘SING’ Aspires To Deliver Animation’s Version Of ‘Pitch Perfect’ | Film Review

Tis the season for animation. Each winter, studios not named Pixar release their high-profile films infused with cutesy characters and dazzling computer graphics in an effort to capitalize on all of that available family time we partake in around the holidays. Would you rather sit and talk to all 15 of your cousins, or take them to the latest flick at your local Cineplex? As someone who would rather catch a tie-fighter zipping through space than sit through yet another cliché-ridden cartoon, the concept of SING did nothing for me.

Buster Moon (voiced with Matthew McConaughey’s earnest optimism) is a koala who harbors aspirations of running the greatest show in town. His entire life’s work has revolved around giving the joy of live theater to those around him, to create and entertain. Buster is a very noble koala, yet his enthusiasm has not evolved into satisfied customers. As a last-ditch effort to save his bankrupt stage, Buster elects to hold a singing competition where the grand prize will be his last-remaining $1,000.

Good help is hard to find in vocal animal circles, and Buster’s aging assistant mistakenly advertises the Grand Prize as $100,000. As you might guess, for many that is a life-changing amount of money, which encourages seemingly every animal in the general vicinity who can muster a mild yodel to compete.

Rosita is an overworked pig with a demanding brood; Ash is a young rebel ruled by poor relationships; Johnny, the son of a thief whose father demands he follow in his criminal footsteps; Mike is a crooning mouse with the arrogance of a Seth MacFarlane character (ironically voiced by MacFarlane himself); and then there’s Meena, an elephant as shy as her snout is long, with the most powerful pipes of all. Everything builds from the planning, to the training, to the derailing, and the inevitable rocking conclusion. Basically, SING is American Idol as performed by a talking zoo.

As I said, the concept of SING left me more than a little tone-deaf. In essence, the story is little more than a series of vignettes and performances of literally dozens of songs. Thankfully, the execution leaves you with that rare breed of ridiculous fun that can only be had after hours of humming along with your favorite tunes.

SING does nothing to break any molds or artistic barriers, but it sure is a hell of great time. The collection of music alone is enough to rival the most ambitious round of Rock Band you ever attempted in your XBOX heyday. From the very first song to the rollicking conclusion, SING delivers a winning combination of characters and glee to keep family members both old and young engaged. If you’re not careful, you might even catch yourself humming along and tapping those toes. It’s one of those brands of movies.

The greatest compliment I can pay to SING is that –though it suffers a bit from the most basic of plots –this film offers some of the greatest voice talent ever assembled (McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Scarlett Johansson, Taron Egerton, Nick Kroll), yet it never becomes a game of “Which actor was THAT?” The voices dissolve behind the characters they’re portraying and directors Garth Jennings and Christophe Lourdelet drive momentum away from which actor is where, and instead absorbs us in the moment.

SING reminded me of my first experience with Pitch Perfect. As a film, it is absolutely ridiculous. But as a piece of sheer entertainment, I wore a smile throughout each and every frame. And to paraphrase SING’s fearless leader, that’s a whole lot better than just alright, alright, alright.