59. Sing 2; movie review

 

SING 2

Cert U

110 mins

BBFC advice: Contains very mild bad language, threat, violence, rude humour

In late 1980, Bono danced among the crowd of a couple of hundred people as he and his band gigged in the upper bar at Wolverhampton Polytechnic.

The Boy tour of colleges and small venues came just as U2 were making it big but they still gave it their all. I have dined out on the fact that I was there ever since.

More than four decades later and the lad from Dublin is so well known globally that he and his songs are revered in this worldwide cinema release.

At the time of writing, Sing 2 has brought in $311m at the box office. In the UK, it is $5m clear of its nearest 2022 contender.

Bono voices Clay Calloway, a world-famous singer who has been a recluse since his wife died 15 years previously.

He becomes the unlikely target for theatre producer Buster Moon (Matthew McConaughey) after he somehow tricks ruthless entertainment mogul (Bobby Cannavale) to put on his show.

Oh, did I mention that Clay is a lion, Buster is a tiny koala bear and the mogul is a rather fierce wolf.

Well, take it for read that every character is an animal because this is a human-free zone.

Anyway, Buster wants to fulfil his dream of putting on a show in Redshore City, a thinly veiled Las Vegas, and believes his small-town talent of pigs Rosita (Reese Witherspoon) and Gunter (Nick Kroll),  porcupine Ash (Scarlett Johansson), gorilla Jonny (Taron Egerton), and elephant Meena (Tori Kelley) can crack it.

His ambitions are matched by the wolf's rather full-of-herself daughter (Halsey).

Yep, there is no lack of singing and acting talent in Sing 2 and I haven't even mentioned Pharrell Williams because he only had a small part.

Of course, there are some cracking songs between the narrative of Buster and his crew trying to beat the odds, avoiding the wrath of a wolf and bringing a sad lion back on stage.

Meanwhile, Garth Jennings' story rolls along at a great pace and there are some laughs and a bit of pathos.

It is one of the best sequels for quite a while.

Reasons to watch: Cracking animated movie with some belting tunes

Reasons to avoid: Goes over some old ground

Laughs: Three

Jumps: None

Vomit: None

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 8/10

Did you know? The cast features two Oscar winners (Matthew McConaughey and Reese Witherspoon) and three Oscar nominees (Scarlett Johansson, Bono, and Pharrell Williams).

The final word. Garth Jennings: “Finding that rhythm to go from one story back to another to another, that’s actually probably the trickiest part of the entire process to get that rhythm right, to make it feel natural and easy. I don’t know. What’s the secret to that? Effort! And trying and trying, and making sure that you feel it.” Collider

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