Step up to the Mic in the new animated film Sing.

Post date: Dec 26, 2016 7:56:13 PM

By: Robby Timmler, Staff Writer

Updated January 3rd, 2017

Sing is Illumination Studios (Despicable Me, Secret Life of Pets) new animated film about a Koala named Buster Moon, (voiced by Matthew McConaughey) a theater owner that has stumbled upon hard times and needs one big show to pay off his debts. Therefore Buster, with the help of his old secretary Miss Crawly (voiced by Garth Jennings) and his rich slacker friend Eddie (voiced by John C. Reilly), plans to host a singing competition with the prize being $1,000. Problems arise when Miss Crawly accidentally hits too many zeros when making the fliers for the advertisement, which increases the prize to $100,000. Drawn in by the prize money, everyone in town shows up to display their singing talent. At the end of a long audition day, Buster picks his finalists: Rosita (voiced by Reese Witherspoon) a stay at home pig mother that feels unappreciated by her family, Gunter (voiced by Nick Kroll) who’s paired with Rosita to make up for her lack of confidence, Ash (voiced by Scarlett Johanson) a rock and roll porcupine that went through a recent break-up with her rocker boyfriend named Johnny (voiced by Taron Egerton), the ape son to a robber that wants sing instead of being part of his father’s gang, and Mike (voiced by Seth MacFarlane) a cocky saxophone playing mouse that sings like Frank Sinatra. Buster also asks Meena (voiced by Tori Kelly), a shy elephant with the voice of an angel that has major stage fright issues, to be a member of stage crew. Later however, she is asked to sing in the show. To save the theater, Buster and his rag tag band of talent must impress Miss Nana Noodleman, a wealthy singer who may or may not donate some money to the theater.

The animation, characters, and obviously the singing is what makes Sing so incredible.The animation is smooth, and only adds to an already incredible movie. The comedy works great here, especially when the characters react to one another; for example, Rosita and her show partner Gunter are complete opposites, but still complement each in their performance styles. The best part about Sing is the singing. All of the voices featured in the movie are amazingly raw and beautiful. The one weakness in Sing is that the basic plotline has been done dozens of times in dozens of films, and all the songs in Sing are just glorified covers of popular tunes that you can find on any hip hop radio station. Sing gets 4/5 stars.