Hey, the gang is back! Wait. Why do I like them? Wait. Do I like them? I honestly don’t remember. Screw it; let’s pretend I do and get some singin’ up in this bitch. I mean eventually, of course. Sure, you can’t really expect a film entitled “Sing 2” to have singing, too, right?
The local musical version of Alice in Wonderland –featuring all the dudes we saw in Sing– seems to be going well. Yeah, the film cuts off “Let’s Go Crazy” too soon, but isn’t that a great number to illustrate Wonderland? Unfortunately, director/stage manager/publicist/gofer/koala Buster Moon (voice of Matthew McConaughey) doesn’t get the mid-show response he wants from a local critic, so he appeals to a powerful studio exec. And in one of those only-happens-in-the-movies, Buster and crew are greenlit on the spot for an improvised idea about a space-themed musical. Highlighting this [whatever noun you associate with mumbleface], Buster has promised inclusion of the reclusive Clay Calloway (Bono) – a former multiple gold record artist who hasn’t been seen in 15 years.
For all the wild animals, I wasn’t wild about Act I. The plot is contrived; the controversy is straight out of the worst drivel sitcoms have to offer and there isn’t even a whole lot of singing. In fact, the few songs the film attempts in Acts I and II barely let anybody get more than a stanza in before cutting away to “action.”
And this is why you try to approach these things with an open mind … one choice I loved about Sing 2 was the refusal to invite more backstory. Don’t tell us who the characters are by what they’ve been doing and what they strive for (like the entire plot of Sing), tell us who they are now. The film was right on in providing us little but the present, and thus it got to introduce a new slew of problems, none of which resembled the plot of A Chorus Line.
Presented in no particular order –
• To appease the mafia don funding the production (Bobby Cannavale), Buster has to take the lead from Rosita (Reese Witherspoon) and give it to the boss’ vapid daughter (Halsey).
• Johnny (Taron Egerton) can’t dance, making his dance battle scene problematic.
• Meena (Tori Kelly) needs to display a little romantic depth on stage, but –literally- can’t find the love
• And Buster himself has to figure out how to locate, befriend, and attract the reclusive Clay Calloway.
Now each one
of those issues is directly related to the quality of the show that gets produced, but has nothing to do with the tired self-doubting “am I good enough?” plot replete in the first film. And once we get the Act III, Sing 2 becomes exactly the film you hoped it would be, when all the plots come together. And while I would find the solutions convenient and contrived in a similar film, this is a musical. There are different rules for musicals, the primary being the music comes first. When it did -as in Act III- the film was a winner.
Yes, I’ve gone easy on Sing 2. Especially after it pissed me off early on. That’s ok. Be patient with this film and you’ll find the fun as well.
♪Didn’t really like
The first edition
Took a look around
Pretty meh, no offense
You see, they called Illumination
“What about that turd?”
They picked up the option
Dropped it at the door
“Wait. Huh. What just occurred?”
I’m not gonna let the screenwriter take us down
Oh no
Let’s go sequel
Plan our attack
Let’s have something besides karaoke
For this new soundtrack ♫
Rated PG, 110 Minutes
Director: Garth Jennings
Writer: Garth Jennings
Genre: Singing, eventually
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: The patient
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Loathers of anthropomorphia
♪ Parody Inspired by “Let’s Go Crazy”
