Sing. (1h, 50m, U)

For their first post-Minion-related adventure, Illumination Pictures have brought to life a singing competition, a last-chance saloon for both an embattled theatre impresario and his ageing and beloved theatre, and a chance for a misfit menagerie of animal maybe-stars to take their chance to make it big-whilst it may have the charm that's slowly fallen from the yellow shrieking comic relief of Despicable Me, it's an oddly muted and only intermittently funny film that falters just when it should be belting its tune out.

Sing begins with Matthew McConaughey's Buster Moon's first brush with the world of theatre, and from here, his ambition to own and run his very own theatre, despite its increasing unpopularity and fading fortunes-honestly, Buster's ambition could very easily have made a film of its very own, one man's (sorry, one koala's) dream to be a theatre director, assisted by his hard-working father-as it is, however, it's just one of many narratives that is oddly rushed in its execution. With the theatre in trouble, Moon hatches a plot to hold a singing competition to buoy the fortunes of the fading Moon theatre back to the big-time. From here, via one of the film's most impressive sequences, we're introduced to the film's key players, from reluctant crook Johnny (Taron Egerton)
and overworked house...sow? Rosita (Reese Witherspoon) to punky Ash (Scarlett Johansson) and shy and retiring Meena (Tori Kelly).

Thus begins one of Sing's biggest issues. Whilst a large ensemble cast in a singing contest could lead to multiple sight-gags, in jokes, and the like, as the contestants are whittled down to a smaller group (in the style of many singing contests, this is restricted to a small sequence; whilst funny, it's so short that characters that could have jostled and competed with our heroes are whisked out of sight before we even get to know them. What's left, to be blunt, are a bunch of stereotypical story arcs: Johnny wants to leave his life of crime (run by his father,) to be a singer, Ash is held back by an overbearing boyfriend who believes the song writing should be left to him, Rosita seems to have forgotten how to be passionate and seems trapped in her role as a mother, and Meena battles her shyness. So far, so passe.

Along for the ride is Sinatramouse-I mean, Mike, voiced by Captain Unfunny Himself, Seth McFarlen. Mike...is by far the worst thing about this film-his card counting and gambling, run-in with Russian Mafia bears (no, really), skirt chasing a fellow if very rich mouse, and general dismissive nature (till the overly schmaltzy ending) of his fellow competitors-heck, the character is introduced mugging an animal with an inhaler for not tipping his busking highly enough-makes you wish that someone squashed him, to free up time for other plot lines. As with recent McFarlen roles, the joke is that this puny little mouse is acting like a famous individual (in this case Frank Sinatra), and that this constant reminding of this mouse being Sinatra is in itself amusing...because he is a mouse.

Mike, in essence, sums up the other issue with Sing-with the exception of  Moon, who is not only the best character, but the only one who seems to be not only the most original (albeit leaning heavily on the typical Kermit The Frog/every frustrated director ever box) but also the funniest. There's a charm to his wheeler-dealer antics as he attempts to keep all parties involved, with his quick-talking, charming personality but also a true sense that he adores both the building he owns and putting on shows in themselves.

This, unfortunately, is more than can be said for the rest of the film; whilst a couple of the "stars" of Buster's show do get some beautiful stand-out, and very funny sequences (in particular Rosita's Heath Robinson rig to get her 25 offspring and husband awake, fed, and out to school and work on time in action, and her solo supermarket "dance"), the rest are left to rummage through the leftovers from films like Fame, Save the Last Dance and even Pitch Perfect in order to find some sort of character, let alone an identity-particularly affected by this are Meena and Johnny, two characters who we are essentially meant to root for.

Johnny essentially doesn't get as much as a character arc-he wants to compete, his father wants him to join him in his life of crime, and when the father (one of the only continuallly funny characters, thanks to British comedian Peter Serafinowicz) promptly gets thrown in jail, merely seeing his son playing on TV (which prison allows live rolling news, by the way?) is enough for a reconciliation. He never seems, aside from one scene, to be overly affected by his father essentially disowning him, aside from a slight post-song mope. That said, he's likable, if bland, enough.

Meena is, if anything worse. Somewhere in the development of Sing there could have been a much better film, with a longer, more diverse talent contest, focusing upon Meena's trials and tribulations, rather than using her first real stage performance as a crowd-pleasing ending. The fact that Meena's stage fright is essentially forced out of her, even if it leads to the best scene of the film, is also a little concerning-a more natural, perhaps accompanied attempt to get Meena out of her shell with the help of the other performer would not only have led to a greater emotional pathos, but also, particularly to a film aimed at a younger audience, emphasised the role of teamwork, even during competitive events such as this.

This lack of strong original character sums up the problem with Sing-it's a Frankenstein's Monster of other films and shows stitched together. Take one part of The Muppets (putting on a show to try to save a failing theatre), one part Fame (competition between various groups, diverse cast) and even a little of Zootopia/Zootropolis, and you essentially get this film. That said, there is one particular strength to this film-its soundtrack, which ranges from everything from Queen and David Bowie to Leonard Cohen and Kyary Pamyu Pamyu (albeit largely via covers), truly represents the length and breath of music.

Yet, the huge cost of licensing 65 songs (an estimated 15 % of the film's $75 million budget) shows a lack of priorities-this is money that could arguably have been spent elsewhere in production or by writing original pieces for the film, especially since some of these songs are used for mere seconds, rather than puff-points for showing musical credability. That said, the cover-versions by the cast are almost uniformly good (though one should expect this from a group who have either produced their own albums or appeared previously in musical films), and the sequences during which the group actually sing and dance are the standout moments of the film-perfectly shot, beautifully realised and actually funny (for the most part). Sadly, they're largely during the film's last half hour, and by that time the damage is done.

What can be made of Sing? It is by no means a bad film, nor is it likely to trouble the high-fliers at the box office for 2017-when it concentrates on the contest and on how it affects its performers, it's good, when it concentrates on their day-to-day lives, it falters, sometimes fatally. As with the film's performers, there's promise, but the film's already-announced sequel needs to make the jump from mere solid if unadventurous cover-version of greater pictures to soulful original to really succeed.


Rating: Neutral.