Sing 2 (Parent And Baby Screening) (U)

Koala Buster Moon hopes to impress arctic wolf Jimmy Crystal, CEO of Crystal Entertainment, with his troupe of gifted singers including maternal pig Rosita and her flamboyant dancing partner Gunter, porcupine punk rocker Ash, gorilla Johnny and elephant Meena. Nothing piques Crystal's interest until Gunter pitches an outlandish sci-fi-themed spectacular that would bring lion rock star Clay Calloway back to the stage after a 15-year hiatus.

LondonNet Film Review
Sing 2 (U)

Second albums can be notoriously tricky but the energetic sequel to Garth Jennings and Christophe Lourdelet’s 2016 computer-animated musical achieves the same feat as Queen, Nirvana, Adele, Madonna and Carole King by delivering a follow-up that trumps its predecessor. In the case of Sing 2, the bar was not set disconcertingly high. The first film was an achingly predictable race to save a theatre from foreclosure by inviting anthropomorphic creatures great and small to compete in a singing contest. Jennings and co-director Lourdelet have learnt from some of their previous mistakes to deliver a crowd-pleasing but narratively simplistic follow-up that preaches the same messages of unity and courage to a soundtrack of Prince, Shawn Mendes, Coldplay, The Struts and U2…

It’s exceedingly sweet fare with sporadic giggles courtesy of an ageing iguana with an ill-fitting glass eye, who serves as the perfect paintball target in the sequel’s most snort-inducing interlude. Aside from scene-stealing reptilian antics, Jennings’ script milks gentle laughs from obvious targets and shamelessly plucks heartstrings by addressing grief at surface level. Like the digitally rendered critters on screen, Sing 2 overcomes its shortfalls and occasional awkwardness to encourage parents to tap their “tippy toes” as children overdose on candy-coloured visuals.

Enterprising koala Buster Moon (voiced by Matthew McConaughey) hosts sold-out shows at the New Moon Theatre in Calatonia starring his resident troupe of critters: Rosita (Reese Witherspoon) and dancing pig partner Gunter (Nick Kroll), gorilla Johnny (Taron Egerton) and elephant Meena (Tori Kelly). The bear impresario invites talent scout Suki (Chelsea Peretti) from Crystal Entertainment to appraise his reworking of Alice In Wonderland. She walks out during the first half: “You’re not good enough. You’d never make it in the big league.”

The koala is crestfallen until his mentor, retired sheep diva Nana Noodleman (Jennifer Saunders), inspires Buster to have “guts, stamina, faith” and gate crash Crystal Entertainment’s auditions in Redstone City hosted by arctic wolf CEO Jimmy Crystal (Bobby Cannavale). Porcupine punk rocker Ash (Scarlett Johansson) reunites with the gang for the try-out but Crystal is unimpressed until Gunter pitches the idea of a sci-fi extravaganza that would woo lion rock star Clay Calloway (Bono) back to the stage after a 15-year hiatus. Crystal gives Buster three weeks to realise Gunter’s outlandish fantasy. “Do not do anything to make me look bad or I’ll throw you off the roof,” snarls the wolf.

Sing 2 dances to the same tune as the 2016 film but with greater gusto and more polished animation on the slickly choreographed song and dance numbers. A subplot which “forces” shy teenager Meena to kiss an older egotistical co-star during a love duet strikes an uncomfortable note but Jennings and Lourdelet navigate a minefield of their own making to the melody of Dionne Warwick. For that, we say a little prayer too.

– Sarah Lee