What
is most impressive about the Garth Jennings movie, Sing, the newest offering from Illumination (the studio that
brought us the Despicable Me
franchise and The Secret Life of Pets)
isn’t the story, which is simple enough. It isn’t the all-star cast of voice
actors – although the music in this film is remarkably well thought out and
performed with aplomb and vitality. What’s most impressive about this film
isn’t even the characters, who carry the weight of the narrative in a world
populated by anthropomorphic animals which seems far less realized than its
cousin in spirit, Disney’s Zootopia.
No,
what makes this animated family film stand out – and, indeed, it does in a
unique way – is its relentless, genuine optimism. It is a tale coated with
positive messages about perseverance, about the power of music, and the moments
when desperation and despair lead us to make choices that can affect us for the
rest of our lives, but rather than a hokey collection of pop-candy clichés and
overreliance on contrived characters, it approaches the meat of its story with
a huge helping of heart – and it gets there with a little help from its
friends.
Sing is, essentially, about
a group of ordinary people (creatures?) who learn to find the extraordinary
within themselves, thanks to the driven idealism of Buster Moon (Matthew
McConaughey), a koala whose aging designs on keeping his beloved theatre alive
with outdated stage shows has brought him financial ruin – but whose can-do attitude keeps him on his
feet. To attempt saving his theatre from repossession, Buster recruits the
local townspeople for an American Idol-style
singing contest with an exaggerated prize, and of course, hilarity ensues as
his inexorable moxie is tested again and again.
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| I never knew bacon had a voice. Interesting. Very interesting to say the least. |
When
the group of hopeful auditioners is whittled down to a few true talents, the
film truly picks up as the characters’ facades fall away to tell their
individual stories. Sing shines in
the gentle hands with which it nudges its heroes into the spotlight one by one,
fleshing out what could easily have been caricatures.
Surprisingly,
the most compelling characters in Sing are its females – its strongest and most
transformative voices are its swine hausfrau Rosita’s, punk-rock porcupine
princess Ash’s, and especially stage-shy pachyderm Meena’s. Reese Witherspoon
plays to the spark of the deeply buried ambition hidden within Rosita and the
weary world of her stay-at-home-mother lifestyle, challenged to grow into true
flame by her flamboyantly buoyant dance partner, Gunter (Nick Kroll), who hopes
to unlock Rosita’s inner Miss Piggy. Ash (Scarlett Johansson), a crested
porcupine singing backup for her music snob boyfriend Lance (Beck Bennett), who
claims to be the true musician of the pair – but it’s clear from the outset
that she alone has the chops to sink into her dreams, but she must overcome his
shadow to achieve her freedom in the music she loves. Tori Kelly brings to life
young elephant Meena, terrified of singing in front of crowds, with powerful
pipes, providing just the push Buster needs to bring his own dreams into the
limelight.
Music
is key throughout this film, and some of its most emotional notes follow in
relevant songs – particularly Leonard Cohen’s haunting “Hallelujah” and “Under
Pressure”, Queen and David Bowie’s ever-anthemic tune of loving through
destruction. Honorable mention also go to Billy Joel’s “I’m Still Standing”,
belted by a triumphant, if melancholy, Johnny (Taron Egerton) – a sweetly artistic
gorilla whose failed attempts at joining his father’s crime ring have torn his
family apart, and smug little Mike’s (Seth MacFarlane) slick rendition of Frank
Sinatra’s “My Way” as a one-rodent Rat Pack (er, Mouse Pack). No matter what
may bring this motley collection of misfits
down, the music suggests there is always a reason to keep trying, to keep
hoping, and to hold on to the things that really matter.
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| If you believe all those animals made it to Noah's Ark, is it so hard to believe they can sing? No. |
Sing is not revolutionary.
It doesn’t speak to the cultural collective in a particularly memorable way, as
some other animated films have tried to do, and it isn’t complicated or full of
deep intellectual symbolism. But what it does, it does competently and with
compassion: It does what movies are meant to do. It brings us, creatures great
and small, to a place of magic and wonder, where fear cannot stop us from doing
what we love.
Score
-Dana L. Culling