Sing

Illumination Entertainment jumped into the animation game in 2010 with "Despicable Me" to challenge DreamWorks and Pixar and they made a big splash. They released some rather flat movies after that, but they'd already established that they could make a hit. "Sing" is proof that they only needed the right story with the right characters and they could be back in the conversation without a "Despicable Me" derivative.

In "Sing" a koala named Buster Moon (Matthew McConaughey) was a struggling theater producer. He was trying to keep his dream afloat of running a successful theater, but he kept producing terrible acts. Then, with his back against the wall and his theater in danger, a brilliant idea coupled with a typo gave him the talent needed to make a hit.

"Sing" was comical, upbeat, and had great music. With actors like Reese Witherspoon, Seth MacFarlane, Scarlett Johansson, John C. Reilly, and others lending their voices, the names were certainly there. But it would be the singing voices that stole the show. It's something about the right musical numbers that makes everything come alive.

It's a cute film, despite the overbearing typical modern themes of "you're special," "you can do anything you set your mind to", and "follow your heart". Plot development and execution is extremely predictable and "cookie-cutter", but the good stuff is all in the details: the humor, the characters, the animation, and sure, even the music.

One may think the movie is purely a platform upon which to showcase all the current, popular musical artists, with almost no thought or heart going into everything else, but thankfully this is not the case. It's not perfect, and yes, there is heavy "music placement", but it should be obvious even to the most skeptic of critics that a lot of work went into creating a fun, family-friendly movie for all.

The actors & singers do a great job too, and on a personal note, it's a great way for anyone unfamiliar with Seth MacFarlane's singing abilities to see just how friggin' talented the guy is, despite their opinion of him.

There have seemingly been a wave a very solid animation movies within the last few years or so. Sing is quite a different animation film since the basic is about singing. Initially did not expect this film to be great, funny or interesting but upon viewing, there was something different in both style and originality with this film.

What makes this film work is not only the singing (there are a blend of older songs and newer ones of different genres) but the different type of characters, and how each main animal character is given a backstory and subplot.

For a family/children film it works- the comedy is juvenile, the visuals are nice to look at and it sends a positive message. Exceeded expectations, anticipating Sing 2.

An immensely enjoyable & likeable animated comedy, Garth Jennings' Sing is extremely entertaining to children and adults. The film may not, however, leave a lasting impression as the tale of a singing competition and its animal competitors does little to stand out. Characters are cute, and voice-talent is strong; but both the narrative and the animation lack depth. Sing is fun, but it rarely hits any high notes.

Forget the book version reviews, they like their own voice.

I was very surprised at this movie. The depth of the character development for animated people/animal things. The number of characters was complex but complimentary. The thorough plot and plot twists. And then the music, singing. Super heavyweight Jen Hudson, pros like Reese Witherspoon, Tori, Jennifer Saunders, John Reilly. The singing built up throughout. And shocker to me Scarlett Johansonn was awesome. Its got fart jokes, jiggly pig bellies, sad family tales and a really super ending.

Pay your dues, have no expectations, sit and enjoy. Sing my arse, they Jennifer Hudson'ed this flick. Awesome !!