Sing - directed by Garth Jennings & Christophe Lourdelet
2016 has been a huge year for animation with what seems like several movies coming out in any given month.
While a bunch have made a fortune in box office for me very few have been at all memorable.
"Kubo and the Two Strings" and "Zootopia" are honestly the only two that I would watch again.... maybe "Storks", possibly "Trolls" but they are line calls.
For the others the issue isn't ideas - it is execution.
"The Secret Life of Pets" was all concept and not a lot of story, "Finding Dory" a pure money grab and the less said about "Sausage Party" the better really!
Sadly the same issues plague Illumination Studios latest animated movie "Sing".
This is basically 'America's Got Talent' with animals.
Each character has a problem in life that they hope to cure by winning a singing contest worth $100,000.
Actually it isn't thanks to an unfortunate typo but this huge problem turns out not to be.
Illumination has now released seven films - two Despicable Me's, "Minions", "The Lorax", "Hop", The Secret Life of Pets" and of course "Sing".
They have sequels to Despicable Me and The Secret Life of Pets in the works but for me they are going to have to be careful.
The quality of late has plummeted.
"Minions" and "Secret Life of Pets" had great central ideas and it is no surprise that they made stupid money - who doesn't like talking animals after all?
And if you have watched the Illumination logo before a trailer with the Minions goofing around next to it you know how universally loved those yellow guys are.
But I found both dull and lacking in the sort of humour and great plots that previous Illumination work had.
With "Sing" the thinking appears to be the same- the kids will lap up the animals and singing contests are really huge on tv now so how could it fail?
It won't of course but I don't know that it is going to make anything like the sort of money that the studio wants it to.
There are however several aspects that work really well.
Mostly the voice work from the excellent cast.
Matthew McConaughey as Koala Buster Moon is out and out excellent and there is suitably goofy support work from Nick Kroll as a German pig, Seth MacFarlane as a dodgy mouse crooner, Scarlett Johansson as a hard rock porcupine with a tendency to eject quills when she gets worked up and Taron Egerton as a mountain gorilla with the voice of an angel.
And in fairness there is some inventiveness to the use of the animals and in the choice of songs.
Watching a snail belt out Christopher Cross hit "Ride Like the Wind" is great and several more contemporary songs are used well too.
But in terms of laughs there are not many.
When your biggest and best laugh is a fart joke you really need to spend more time scripting.
Another tick in the positive column is the overall look of this film and the quality of the animation.
In an early scene we follow Buster as he rides his ridiculously oversized bike through the city.
The 'camera' swoops in and out as he weaves through traffic and several times we get a high speed moving cutaway shot to introduce us to other Johnny the gorilla acting as lookout to his Father's robbery gang and to Rosita the pig tending to her twenty five children and useless husband.
It is a stunning looking film but this doesn't need to be an either/or option when it comes to a good story.
Pixar nearly always manage to produce great looking movies with excellent writing.
I saw this film at an advanced screening populated almost entirely with children and other that fart sequence I didn't hear much laughter at all... apart from the Illumination logo at the start of course.
It is frustrating to see $75,000,000 spent and a brilliant cast assembled without a decent script on the table.
The pacing is terrible for the last thirty minutes and the finale seems tacked on.
It is highly unsatisfying.
I guess it all doesn't matter too much because kids will go anyway and it will make its money but after "Despicable Me 2" which is one of my favourite and for sure funniest animation films I expected great things from Illumination.
Hugely disappointing.
RATING: 68 / 100
CONCLUSION: A great cast, superba animation and a good central concept are wasted for want of a decent script. Not funny enough, badly paced and instantly forgettable.
Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Reece Witherspoon, Scarlett Johansson, Seth MacFarlane, John C Reilly, Taron Egerton, Nick Kroll, Nick Offerman, Leslie Jones, Jennifer Saunders, Rea Perlman, Peter Serafinowicz, Wes Anderson, Jennifer Hudson, Garth Jennings
Screenplay: Garth Jennings
Music Score by: Joby Talbot
Cinematography: N/A
Cinematography: N/A
Edited by: Gregory Perler
Running Time: 108 minutes
Language: English
Rated: G - nothing of note
Running Time: 108 minutes
Language: English
Rated: G - nothing of note
While a bunch have made a fortune in box office for me very few have been at all memorable.
"Kubo and the Two Strings" and "Zootopia" are honestly the only two that I would watch again.... maybe "Storks", possibly "Trolls" but they are line calls.
For the others the issue isn't ideas - it is execution.
"The Secret Life of Pets" was all concept and not a lot of story, "Finding Dory" a pure money grab and the less said about "Sausage Party" the better really!
Sadly the same issues plague Illumination Studios latest animated movie "Sing".
This is basically 'America's Got Talent' with animals.
Each character has a problem in life that they hope to cure by winning a singing contest worth $100,000.
Actually it isn't thanks to an unfortunate typo but this huge problem turns out not to be.
Illumination has now released seven films - two Despicable Me's, "Minions", "The Lorax", "Hop", The Secret Life of Pets" and of course "Sing".
They have sequels to Despicable Me and The Secret Life of Pets in the works but for me they are going to have to be careful.
The quality of late has plummeted.
"Minions" and "Secret Life of Pets" had great central ideas and it is no surprise that they made stupid money - who doesn't like talking animals after all?
And if you have watched the Illumination logo before a trailer with the Minions goofing around next to it you know how universally loved those yellow guys are.
But I found both dull and lacking in the sort of humour and great plots that previous Illumination work had.
With "Sing" the thinking appears to be the same- the kids will lap up the animals and singing contests are really huge on tv now so how could it fail?
It won't of course but I don't know that it is going to make anything like the sort of money that the studio wants it to.
 |
| Left - right... Scarlett Johansson, Matthew McConaughy, Tori Kelly, Reece Witherspoon and Nick Kroll |
Mostly the voice work from the excellent cast.
Matthew McConaughey as Koala Buster Moon is out and out excellent and there is suitably goofy support work from Nick Kroll as a German pig, Seth MacFarlane as a dodgy mouse crooner, Scarlett Johansson as a hard rock porcupine with a tendency to eject quills when she gets worked up and Taron Egerton as a mountain gorilla with the voice of an angel.
And in fairness there is some inventiveness to the use of the animals and in the choice of songs.
Watching a snail belt out Christopher Cross hit "Ride Like the Wind" is great and several more contemporary songs are used well too.
But in terms of laughs there are not many.
When your biggest and best laugh is a fart joke you really need to spend more time scripting.
 |
| The character design is very good |
In an early scene we follow Buster as he rides his ridiculously oversized bike through the city.
The 'camera' swoops in and out as he weaves through traffic and several times we get a high speed moving cutaway shot to introduce us to other Johnny the gorilla acting as lookout to his Father's robbery gang and to Rosita the pig tending to her twenty five children and useless husband.
It is a stunning looking film but this doesn't need to be an either/or option when it comes to a good story.
Pixar nearly always manage to produce great looking movies with excellent writing.
I saw this film at an advanced screening populated almost entirely with children and other that fart sequence I didn't hear much laughter at all... apart from the Illumination logo at the start of course.
It is frustrating to see $75,000,000 spent and a brilliant cast assembled without a decent script on the table.
The pacing is terrible for the last thirty minutes and the finale seems tacked on.
It is highly unsatisfying.
I guess it all doesn't matter too much because kids will go anyway and it will make its money but after "Despicable Me 2" which is one of my favourite and for sure funniest animation films I expected great things from Illumination.
Hugely disappointing.
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