Sing

I've seen quite a few animated movies, but this one was very theatrical and memorable. Great choice of cast for voices, great story, and great animation. Not just a kids movie -- a lot of adults will like this as well.

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.

This date night was going to be an unexpected twofer. First on our list we saw La La Land and just loved it so we stuck to the musical genre and next on our list was the lighter side of comedy with the animation feature Sing. Neither Mrs. Shullivan or I are fans of 3-D films but this was the only format being offered at 10:00 PM so we went for it. It took me about 15 minutes to adjust to the 3D format even though I have tried it a few times before, and my opinion has not changed. In my opinion the 3D format does not add any value to a film and by the sparse theater crowd I assume most are in agreement with me. Producers have attempted the 3D format for more than 60 years now with little success and I will be glad when the format is abandoned and the editors rely on content quality and not CGI.

The film Sing is great and it will appeal to a vast crowd from the age of 3 to 103. After I had adjusted to the 3D format and we got to know the animal characters and the story line I for one just forgot that it was an animated feature and I sat back and watched the film progress in a very positive light. There are some big name stars lending their voices and I am sure they are proud of their finished product.

Buster Moon (Matthew McConaughey) owns a theater for live performances that lately he has been unable to sustain paying his debts so the bank is after him to pay up or the bank will repossess Buster's dream theater. Buster's late father had worked extremely hard in his car wash across the street from the theater to fulfill Buster's dream to open the theater and Buster needed to pull off the biggest hit of his life if he were to keep his dream theater out of the bankers grasp. Each of the animal characters has a story to tell. Each of the animal characters also has a great voice and a personal life that the winning prize money if they were to win the sing off would take care of.

The plot is simple so the children should be able to follow along relatively easy, all the animated animal characters were adorable. There are also some bad guys besides the bankers who want their hands on the prize money, and this just adds more humor and excitement to this cute little animated feature.

The songs were great, the story line very heartwarming, and the animated characters were all cute and cuddly. Mrs. Shullivan and I ended our date night on a high note for this twofer evening. I give the film an 8 out of 10 rating, taking two points off for making me watch the film in 3D which did nothing to enhance this viewers experience.

If you like this review I also wrote one on the first film we saw tonight which was La La Land.

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 !!

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.