SING 2 – Review

So, did you blow out your vocal cords when you went from house to house caroling this holiday season? Would you rather watch somebody else croon some tunes for your entertainment? And if they’re cute and fuzzy, why all the better! After you knock back some hot tea and lemon, head over to the multiplex because an encore concert is about to start. Encore? Yes, can you believe that it’s been five years and a day since a menagerie of cuddly critters warbled dozens of pop tunes and standards. Yes, that long ago! So take a break from the Christmas “crunch” and shuttle the whole family to the moves to tap your toes (but please refrain from joining vocally) along with the cartoon cast of SING 2.

During those years it appears that all’s going well at the New Moon Theatre. The current musical revue based on “Alice in Wonderland” produced by Buster Moon (voice of Matthew McConaughey) is a smash. He’s so confident that he invites a talent scout from The Crystal Tower Theatre in fabulous Redshore City to catch it, with hopes that her boss will pick them up for a residency. Unfortunately, Ms. Suki ( Chelsea Peretti) is unimpressed and heads to the lobby right after the big “Let’s Go Crazy” number. She tells the pleading Buster that they’re just not ready for the “big time”. But he and his troupe are not deterred, so Gunter (Nick Kroll) blurts out an idea for an outer space revue, and they soon pile into a bus for a road trip to Redshore. After a bit of subterfuge, they make it into the plush penthouse office of Mr. Crystal (Bobby Cannavale) himself. But he’s not interested until the cast guarantees that reclusive music superstar Clay Calloway will come out of retirement to be part of the cast. Crystal gives them a “go”, so now Buster and number one Clay fan Ash (Scarlett Johannson) have to convince the “legend” to perform again. And there’s still plenty of backstage drama to deal with. Male lead Johnny (Taron Eggerton) clashes with the impatient dance director Klaus (Adam Buxton), but he learns the “moves’ with help from street dancer Nooshy (Letitia Wright). Then Crystal insists that his talent-challenged daughter Porsha (Halsey) replace the nervous (afraid of heights) Rosita (Reese Witherspoon). Plus the female lead Meena (Tori Kelly)has no chemistry with vain Crystal Theatre star Darius (Eric Andre), as she’d rather spend time with dreamy ice cream vendor Alfonso (Pharrell Williams). Can Buster and his pals possibly pull everything together in order to avoid the wrath (and pointy fangs) of the vicious Mr. Crystal?

As is the case with many film sequels, I can say with confidence that if you enjoyed the first flick, then you’ll probably enjoy this one, too. I must admit that I’m not in that group. Watching a hundred or so minutes of “fuzzies’ and friends doing karaoke just wears thin on me. Now, you got each main character’s “origin” story last time, so this all hinges on the new plot or “show’ and all the new characters introduced. Buster’s got a pretty fearsome villain to butt heads with in Mr. Crystal, a snarling sociopath in the mode of Shere Khan or Scar, with street guy swagger. Kudos to the filmmakers for making him more dangerous than buffoon-ish, even at the risk of spooking the “wee ones”. And I like his daughter Porsha, who’s more dim than deadly, though she often enjoys flaunting her privilege. Plus Halsey and Carnavale do a great job as their respective “pipes”. But the best of the bunch is Clay, a slow-moving stoic silver lion with a surprisingly warm Texas drawl, considering his vocal “source” ( a true rock icon that I won’t spoil, though he’s on the poster). Also visually pleasing is the background design which makes Redshore a bright shiny pastel-colored near-mirror image of a certain gambling/entertainment mecca. Ditto for the forced perspectives of the outer-space show sets and auditorium with the singers and dancing zipping along on wires that dangle them dozens of stories above the adoring throngs. All this tries to make up for another fairly thin story and some tiresome slapstick bits. Recent films like the superb ENCANTO have set the bar very high for animated musical features, as the tunes reveal more info on the characters while pushing the plot forward, rather than stopping everything for a big brassy solo. And this flick’s hero, Buster, is just pleasant to the point of dull banality. Like its predecessor, it may make a good “first film” for toddlers with its tunes and soft colors. But for more discerning viewers, and fans of the talented folks at Illumination Animation, you may get more than a bit “fidgety’, and wish you were seeing another adventure of Gru and his Minions, rather than the simple show-biz shenanigans of SING 2.

1.5 Out of 4

SING 2 opens in theatres everywhere on Wednesday, December 22, 2021