Well, everybody! The time has come for me and my dad to review our long anticipated Sing 2.
So dad and I got to the "Regal Cinema" around 2:10 to get our tickets and the all important popcorn (for myself). Checked into the theater and had to endure 12 dozen trailers. Including some for movies I plan on seeing in the future such as:
- Turning Red (this March)
- The Bad Guys (In April)
- Sonic 2 (Also In April)
After all that was done, the movie began....
So its been 5 (6 years now, actually) since the Sing gang helped Buster Moon get back on his feet. And the theater is doing great! The crew have put together an "Alice In Wonderland" show in their own jazzy style. It's then that we find out that a popular critic is in town recruiting new ideas for upcoming shows. Sadly, the critic left before the second act started. Buster tries to convince her to stay but is simply told that he an his show aren't good enough for the big leagues. The rest of this first act is Buster making plans to reunite the group and heading to Redshore City to try and wow that critic.
Turns out Ash has been making a decent living for herself as a traveling Rockstar. We see her performing "Heads Will Roll" at the local hub.
Ash and Buster set out to meet up with the other crew members as they board the bus to Redshore.
Starting the second act!
Act 2 shows the group rehearsing on the bus, gaining the positive reception from other passengers. And after a while, we finally arrive in Redshore City.
Moon and his friends face ANOTHER dead end when they can't audition for "Crystal Entertainment" unless they have an appointment. Leading to one of those goofy disguise scenes where Meena and the others dress up as janitors to get past the security guards. After that's all done and dusted, the crew wind up backstage, treating us to the various auditions from other fellow creatures from all walks of life. All of them being declined by the man himself, Jimmy Crystal. The stereotypical "big bad wolf" character. But just as Buster and his friends are about to perform, Crystal complains that he needs "big shows" to further boost his industry. Well....
Gunther the pig suggest his own idea of a space themed musical called "Out Of This World." where, get this...It could feature the return of Clay (Bono) Calloway. Of course, Jimmy is interested. But Buster assures him that the musical could happen if he was given a chance. Crystal gives Moon the greenlight for the show, thus showing us some glam scenes of the crew preparing the script and getting in touch with the production team... But there's one massive problem...
Buster has NO PERSONAL CONNECTION with Clay Calloway. Giving us one of the main plot points to the story. Good thing Ash is Calloway's biggest fan on the planet (Heard this trope before but I don't care). Our beloved porcupine gives Buster an insight on Clay's whereabouts and how he hasn't been a part of the music industry in YEARS! We'll get to the reasons why in a minute. Dad? Care to explain a good portion of the rest of this act for me while I play some Zelda? I'll get back to you guys with act 3 shortly.
Miss Crawly is deputized with finding the reclusive Calloway. After finding his address, she is sent out to meet with and convince Clay to be in their production. (This is very important to Jimmy Crystal and he does not like being disappointed.)
Having rented a sports car, Miss Crawly sets out to find Calloway's rock star estate. The bad news is that it is located off-road and is also heavily booby trapped. Miss C is attached by a motorcycle riding paintball gun assassin and, in rushing to escape, loses her glass eye. (She mistakenly stuffs an apple into her eye socket in her haste.)
The rental car is trashed and the lizard returns backstage all splattered with paint.
Buster decides to put Miss Crawly in charge of rehearsals while he and Ash leave to make a second attempt to talk turkey with the reluctant recluse. Crawly snaps to and, finding her inner drill sergeant, whips the cast and crew into shape.
The drill sergeant joke was hilarious. Especially with C. having to put up with Porsha being 2+ hours late.
Its later in the act where Ash and Buster head to Clay's estate to propose their idea. They sadly fall for one of the boobytraps, being an electric fence. The two pass out before it cutting to them waking up inside the house during the evening. Clay requests they be gone by the morning, but they stay. Buster spends the rest of the morning, desperate to convince Calloway to be a part of the show. Moon then gives up after a bunch of failed attempts and heads back to the studio while Ash stays behind.
We then get a slight discussion over Calloway's wife passing away some time ago, which was his reasoning for his retirement. A very bitter scene, but definitely one of the first times I've emotionally connected with a movie. No I didn't wind up crying my eyes out in the theater. But this scene was truly one of the more raw of the film.
Act 3 is where Buster breaks the news to Porsha that he wants to switch her role with Rosita. Porsha, thinking she's being fired, storms off. Now I get that she's supposed to be painted as the spoiled daddy's girl in this scene, but I can kind of find this semi relatable. Setbacks are an issue with me at times, mostly varying on the situation at hand. I think that's mostly in relation to me being neurodiverse, but if not, then that's on me. But anyways, that scene is definitely both comedic and relatable at the same time. But when Jimmy Crystal finds out about this via a news station that he'd be appearing on later in the act, let me tell you folks... He. Is. PISSED!
Thankfully, Suki, the critic from earlier, rescues Buster and tells him to run and NEVER return. But our hero has other plans. Buster informs the group (with the recently added Clay Calloway) about what happened, they then try to figure out a solution as quick as possible while trying not to get viciously murdered by Crystal's security guards.
And now....the show.
Our story starts with a space explorer (Rosita) and her robot assistant (Gunther) where they set off to find another explorer (Calloway) who has been lost for the ages. Rosita must travel to four different planets. The first one being...
THE PLANET OF WAR
The first planet features Johnny performing "Sky Full Of Stars" in a castle of ruins, with soldiers surrounding him. Things escalate when Johnny must perform an elaborate dance routine with not only the others in the background, but with a very stuck up dance teacher, Klaus (I can't for the life of me remember how to spell his last name.) but with the help from Johnny's other dance teacher, Nooshy (Viviance in some countries). He succeeds this insanely tricky routine, making the crowd go mad!
Next, The Planet Of Joy
We're treated to a really cool and colorful performance where Porsha covers "Could've Been Me" which is kind of foreshadowing that she's standing her ground and not putting up with her dad's selfishness anymore. Even being expressed in one scene where Jimmy Crystal breaks in and heads backstage
When I tell ya I was mouthing every word to this song while tapping my foot to the beat, I surely was. This was definitely one of my favorite segments from Moon's show.
Second to last planet was The Planet Of Romance.
Meena and Darius perform this jazzy showtune "Say A Little Prayer" which wasn't my favorite at first, but has since grown on me. This particular segment follows with a side story where Meena meets another elephant named Alfonso during a break from rehearsal. So this was definitely a cute part to the story.
And finally, The Last Planet (which I forgot the name of.)
The sketch opens with Rosita trying to find the explorer, which was supposed to prompt Ash and Clay to hit the stage and perform a duet together. Calloway just didn't have the guts to do it at first, due to the overwhelming grief of losing his wife. Ash starts the cover of U2's "Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" (Which is also great foreshadowing since Bono does the voice of Clay Calloway). And after a brief few seconds of the cold dead silence, we hear the dramatic guitar riff, where Clay steps on stage to continue the song with Ash.
The movie ends with Jimmy Crystal being arrested on the spot and our crew heading home, before being stopped by Suki to get the news that their show is so popular and loved by many that other venues want to have the show be performed. Moon asks Clay if he's interested, only to be given a wink by our no longer retired Rockstar.
So....What are OUR thoughts?
Obviously I thought this movie was fantastic! If not, even better than the first Sing movie from 6 years ago! The movie was dressed up with great characters, a top tier voice cast, great designers and animation, and more. Definitely one of Illumination's best films yet. I give it a 10\10 (Obviously)
What about you, dad?
I'm not exactly in the target demographic for these Sing movies. That said, as a life-long animation fan I find it mind-blowing what's being accomplished with CGI, these days. I'm glad we got to see it on the big screen with an amazing sound system,
Every musical number from the opening "Alice In Wonderland" segment was incredible. The star-studded voice cast was top-notch, so kudos to the voice director.
"Thumbs up" for Sing 2.
One caveat: Make sure you see the first movie before this one so you'll know the characters' back stories.
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