Fun Sing lacks X Factor
Sing (G, 108 mins) Directed by Garth Jennings and Christophe Lourdelet
Buster Moon’s (Matthew Mcconaughey) plans to become the first koala in space evaporated at the age of six.
That’s when his father took him to see Nana Noodelman perform Epiphany and he fell in the love with the theatre. But decades on, his ardour is being tested. After a string of unsuccessful shows – War of Attrition, Rosie Takes a Bow – Moon Theatre is in trouble, with employee cheques bouncing and creditors out for Buster’s hide. However, the always optimistic marsupial has a plan. Aiming to showcase ‘‘real talent from real life’’, he plans to hold a singing competition with a first prize of $1000.
However, even Buster isn’t prepared for the level of interest, until he discovers, that as a result of a typo, would-be competitors think they are chasing not only dreams of stardom, but a cash prize of $100,000.
While certainly providing plenty of humorous moments and toe-tapping tunes, this anthropomorphic ensemble feels something of a disappointment after the heady heights of the similarly themed Zootopia earlier this year. There’s a distinct lack of insightful allegories or nuance at work here, replaced by an emphasis on slapstick (glass eye gags abound), reality show parodies and dramatic beats and a plot that’s part The Muppet Movie and A Star is Born. But while some littlies may struggle with the near two-hour running time, there’s enough action and musical numbers (85 songs from Sam Smith to Seal allegedly feature) to keep most audience members entertained.
Naturally, each of the main characters gets their moment in the spotlight, with Reese Witherspoon’s downtrodden mother-of-25, Taron Egerton’s gang-prospect gorilla, and Scarlett Johansson’s punk rock porcupine proving the highlights. Seth Macfarlane also threatens to steal scenes with his Sinatra-inspired mouse, although his run-ins with a group of Russian bears borders a little too much on offensive stereotyping.
Writer-director Gareth Jennings (The Hitchhikers’ Guide to the Galaxy) does a solid job in keeping all the story strands together and along with animation expert Christophe Lurdelet (a Minions storyboard artist) uses a variety of clever techniques – timelapse, crash-zooms – to seamlessly shift the action from one location to another.
In the end though, your enjoyment will depend on your tolerance for flatulent bison, celebrity voice artists and Elton John songs from the 1980s. - James Croot