Review of Sing (2016) by Bradley J — 28 Dec 2016

When Sing finished, I noticed something I don't notice often at the movies anymore. The full audience began to applaud and stand for the film even before the credits began. It was a lovely moment and shows how much the film connected in its lighthearted approach to musical performance and friendships.

Illumination has always been a studio that values their commercial priorities over the creation of well-rounded films, however, outside of the original Despicable Me, Sing is a film that truly has it all.

It has humor in spades, especially during a thrillingly hilarious audition segment, and heart that is highlighted by the film's final joyous thirty minute stretch of performances. The film even gets rather intense and dark in moments bringing its characters to low places of misfortune.

It almost hits Pixar levels of sad, but of course not for very long. It was staggering how the film balanced its many storylines with an ensemble cast of characters whom all get a reasonable amount of backstory and character-defining moments.

There is real character development here, which wasn't evident from the highly obnoxious ads released for the film. Overall, sure Sing isn't about much, but its creative musical numbers, fun characters, and celebration of musical theatre make it a lovely way to end 2016's slate of stellar animated films.

Illumination has impressed me which is something I couldn't say about their last couple of films. Job well done. Rating: 84.