Sing 2 Review – A Spectacle

The star-studded cast of Sing has grown in Sing 2, but does the new voices and songs make it better? Read our Sing 2 review to find out!

Sing 2 takes place after the events of Sing (2016), but even if you didn’t watch the first movie, it’s easy enough to follow and understand. All you need to know is that the film is about animals in show business who put up musicals. Think of Zootopia, but with a lot of singing and music.

Writing

Without getting into spoilers, Sing 2 basically tells the story of koala bear Buster Moon and his group of singers in his local theatre who try to make it big in Redshore City, the movie’s equivalent of Las Vegas. Don’t go into this movie thinking that it will be very deep or contain some powerful statement on society. While the film portrays show business, it’s definitely not serious enough to be taken as any kind of commentary.

Instead, the film’s writing is mainly an excuse to insert as many popular songs as possible while still making some sense. Note that things always happen to turn out in our protagonists’ favour. All of their problems get solved conveniently without proper reasoning or explanation. It just works—is what you’ll have to believe.

Just because the plot isn’t meant to be taken seriously, doesn’t mean that it isn’t fun. There are cute and funny moments here and there. If you were planning on taking children along with you to watch Sing 2, then rest assured, the weak writing will likely not be an issue for a younger audience.

That said, if you go into Sing 2 right after Sing (2016), the drop in the quality of writing is definitely noticeable. In the first movie, the characters actually faced problems that affected them personally. Learning how to overcome them is a big part of that movie and definitely makes its writing superior to the sequel. In Sing 2, the characters didn’t really have to overcome any personal struggles. Instead, the main motivation behind our ragtag group of animals is that they want to make it big in Redshore City. Was there anything at stake? Absolutely not.

That said, even if the writing isn’t as good or as impactful as the first movie, doesn’t mean it’s not enjoyable. Just don’t go into it thinking it will change your life.

Music

Sing 2 features a lot of songs, so much so that I lost count. Is that a bad thing? Yes and no. Lemme start with no first.

The simple reason is that they’re fun. Sure, it isn’t the peak of cinema, but unless you hate popular music or something, seeing the cute animals of Sing 2 vibe with the music thanks to the amazing animation (more on that later in the review) makes it difficult not to enjoy them as well. Rock and pop gets the majority of the limelight, so if these two are your favourite genre of music, more power to you.

On the other hand, having too many songs also works against the film’s favour. Many songs are cut short or weirdly. Nothing stood out to me or touched me personally. While I could still remember a few numbers from Sing 2 like Billie Eilish’s Bad Guy and Alicia Key’s This Girl is on Fire, I remember them not because they were impactfully woven into the movie, but because they were popular and just happened to be there. Had the songs actually mean something to the characters singing them, maybe I’ll stand corrected, but no—the motivation behind most of the singing was because it was the characters’ job to perform them, not because they were emotionally pushed to do so.

As for the singing performance themselves, I have no complaints there. Taron Eagerton, who plays the gorilla Johnny is my favourite. I’m not exactly musically inclined, but I could tell that his voice control was on point. The rest of the cast who sang was also pretty good.

Animation and Visuals

The animation is beautiful and appealing, as per the standard for a lot of animated Hollywood films nowadays. Visuals are vibrant, consistent and detailed. If a character gets wet, you can easily see the detail in the character’s fur.

Basically, everything and everyone in Sing 2 is very pleasant to look at. The way characters move is very expressive and fluid. In particular, there are scenes of characters breakdancing that are incredibly smooth. Breakdancing is ridiculously hard to animate realistically, but Sing 2 does it better than any other animated film or video I can think of.

Overall, if there is one aspect of Sing 2 is better than Sing (2016), it’s the visuals. The sequel is very ambitious with its visuals. Redshore City looks absolutely glamorous and attractive. City aside, the set design of the show we see in the movie is incredible. Colours change and move in a way that’s only possible through the power of animation, and the film makes use of this strength perfectly.

Verdict

Sing (2016) is a better movie overall, but as I’ve mentioned earlier in this review, Sing 2 is still entertaining to watch. The songs and performances may not be that memorable or impactful, but the great animation helps to keep things enjoyable. If you just want to spend some time not thinking too much to have fun, then this is the movie for you.

Sing 2 is now out in Malaysian cinemas. For more details on the movie, visit its official website. You can also check out our review of The Matrix Resurrections.

Final Score:

7/10

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