I'm passionate about animation, especially in cinema. If you observe my Twitter account during awards season, I'm one of the only schmucks tweeting about the Best Animated Feature category, which I imagine most folks tend to skip over on their way to the Best Actor or Best Picture categories.
With that said, it was my wife who advocated we go see "Sing" when it was released in 2016. I just didn't have much interest because the film seemed like a cheap vehicle to get some catchy pop songs in front of children. Walking out of the theater, I felt vindicated in my opinion ... mostly.
So when "Sing 2" was announced, I didn't expect much, if anything. Imagine my surprise when I discovered not only did the animation get a major boost, but it felt like there was a solid storyline this time around. I connected with each of the characters so much more than in the first film.
At least three times I turned to Meghan while we watched it and said, "They really put some effort into this one!"
THE STORY
The story picks up with most of the main characters from the first movie, minus Seth MacFarlane's jazz-loving mouse, as they perform a musical version of "Alice in Wonderland," hoping a talent scout in the audience will be amazed and give them a chance to audition for her boss.
Matthew McConaughey returns as Buster Moon, the koala with big dreams who just doesn't know how to quit. And despite having his prized theater back after it was destroyed in the first film, he has his sights set on auditioning his crew for a major entertainment company owned by a violent and wealthy wolf named Jimmy Crystal (Bobby Cannavale).
But the talent scout, Suki Lane (Chelsea Peretti) brushes the "Alice in Wonderland" performance off as cute and tells Buster he's not good enough for the big league. Despite that, Buster takes his crew from the first film and travels to Redshore City, a Vegas-like metropolis filled with massive theaters and fancy hotels big enough to have their own indoor water parks.
Through shenanigans, Buster sneaks his crew into auditions for Jimmy Crystal but is quickly shut down by the uninterested wolf. That is, until one of his performers, a bombastic pig named Gunter (Nick Kroll) starts talking about this epic idea of his for a sci-fi musical production involving a famous rock legend of a lion named Clay Calloway. That name gets Jimmy's attention fast.
And the entertainment mogul immediately asks Buster if he knows Clay Calloway and can get him involved in the project. Lying, Buster answers in the affirmative and secures a huge funding deal from Jimmy. The wolf gives him three weeks to write, design, and perform the whole thing. Thus starts the ticking clock for Buster, who throws all of his crew into big roles they aren't comfortable with at all.
Rosita the pig (Reese Witherspoon) needs to play a big space explorer who isn't afraid to jump off a giant platform dozens of feet above the stage. And Johnny the gorilla (Taron Egerton) has to learn complicated dance choreography from a demanding instructor for a big duel. Meena the elephant (Tori Kelly) is given a dramatic love scene she's terrified to star in.
Meanwhile, my favorite character, Ash (Scarlett Johansson), the punk rock porcupine, works on bringing the reclusive and cantankerous Clay Calloway (Bono) out of retirement. But he has no interest in playing his guitar again after the tragic loss of his wife, in a storyline borrowed straight from "Up."
IMPROVEMENT
The writing feels like it belongs to a real movie in "Sing 2," which is a breath of fresh air from the original film. "Sing" felt like a few thinly sketched characters were used to fill time in between some excellent musical numbers.
I will give the original film this: the soundtrack was packed with great performances. Egerton stunned me with a wonderful cover of Elton John's "I'm Still Standing," and Johansson had an original song written for her called "Set It All Free." She nailed it. The vocal talent in "Sing" is undeniable. But the animation and story were pretty shallow.
By the time "Sing 2" comes around, Director/Writer Garth Jennings has a better feel for his characters and how to make audiences care about them. It shows he learned from the shortcomings of his first entry into this franchise and bettered himself for the sequel. I deeply respect that.
I didn't really care about the crew in the first movie, and I found Buster to be a tad annoying. It was hard for me to root for the koala. But all of that is reversed in "Sing 2."
On top of everything, the art is fantastic. The textures on these animals, from the hair in Clay Calloway's mane to the fuzzy fur covering Porsha the wolf, is dynamic and impressive. And when the lighting hits those textures just right, via stage lamps or the sun, any animation fan should marvel.
The one thing I found a little lackluster for "Sing 2," ironically, was the music. For days after watching "Sing," I was humming tunes from its soundtrack. But I didn't have a single song from "Sing 2" stuck in my head after the film concluded. That's not to say it doesn't make good use of some hits, like entries from System of a Down and Billie Eilish, but I can't recall any of the songs the main characters sang, aside from Bono's "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For."
But in the end, I think this is an OK tradeoff. I'll happily take the upgraded animation and narrative in "Sing 2," even if it requires sacrificing some level of musical quality. It's superior to the original, which isn't something often said of sequels.
"Sing 2" is in theaters now, and this marks my final review of 2021. Thanks for putting up with my rants across -- what -- 52-ish reviews? Next week I'll have my annual list of top 10 movies from the year.