My god this was a long time coming, but best to get it out of the way now. I went and saw this movie back in December of 2016 a whole month or so ago. and from that time, even until now, I think it is the best Illuminations film I have ever seen. and now I will talk about each topic.
Story: The story goes that Buster Moon is trying to keep his ever struggling theater business afloat after many fails in his pasts. In order to do this, he turns his next show into a singing competition where the winner will win 1000 dollars (which gets mistyped as 100,000 dollars) 8 get chosen to compete with one group leaving and the other getting injured to be replaced later on. Now while this story of Buster is going on, we get to see the lives of the contestants going on as they are in this competition and see their struggles through their daily lives leading up to this point. That was one of this films strongest features with it's diverse cast of characters that it constantly switches throughout the movie while also focusing on Buster Moon as well. Now for most people, this may be a little to complicated for them to follow, but I've notice that each character has a different problem in their life that makes it a lot easier for me to follow since each character has a great personality to carry them forward as well as a great voice performance. The story may be hard for most people, but for me, it was the fresh kind of story I have been waiting for.
Character: Their are a ton of characters to talk about. Buster Moon (Matthew McConaughey, Beetle in Kubo) is center of this whole film as he gets the entire events of the story to unfold through his show. He cares deeply for his theater and his father (for whom he keeps the theater afloat for) even if some of the things he does might get him in trouble or he might be a bit on the eccentric side. Johnny (Taron Egerton, Eggsy in Kingsmen) is a teenage gorilla who wants nothing more then to sing but is having trouble with his dad as they are thieves. Ash (Scarlett Johansson, Kaa in Jungle Book 2016) is a teenage porcupine punk rocker who wants to not be second fiddle to her boyfriend in their band but starts to have conflicting problems with him during this competition when she is chosen and he isn't. Rosita (Reese Witherspoon, Susan/Ginormica, Monsters vs. Aliens) is a stay-at-home mother pig who wishes to be known for more then just a typical mother but doesn't get the recognition she deserves. Meena (Tori Kelly, Unbreakable Smile album) is an elephant teenager who has a beautiful voice but must overcome a sever case of stage fright. Their are more characters, but these are the ones I wanted to mention cause they have perhaps the strongest of character traits in this film. They are the ones who struggle the most in this film and are able to overcome their problems once they practice or go beyond their expectation in life which is truly inspirational. The struggle with Johnny and his father, the conflict of Ash and her boyfriend, and Meena wanting to sing but being ever so shy and frightened up on the stage. I couldn't help but get teary eyed for each character during their performances at the end of the movie. It was just so eye opening.
Animation: Now I have heard a lot of people before this movie came out saying that this film is copying or is trying to imitate Zootopia. Yea, only for 1 thing, and that's the anthropomorphic animal characters, but that's it. it's story or setting have NOTHING to do with it at all, not to mention what Sing lacks in fine detail, it does make up for in variety including such animals as fish, squids, snails, etc. One thing that this film has that Zootopia lacks is a sense of well timed animation when it comes to movements or characters during their performances on the stage. The choreography in this film is fantastic and fun to watch like a big stage show. Also, I think the looks of each animal character is unique in their own rights too. Like the look of the character and what they wear can really tell you a lot about the character. I also love the scene almost towards the end where the theater is transformed into a water filled tank with glowing squids moving along to Buster and when it all breaks, the escape is wild and heart pounding to watch. Yes, it certainly isn't a flashy looking as Zootopia in terms of its looks and world and realistic character animation, but as far as I can tell when it comes to other films done by Illumination, it's their best looking and best animated film to date.
Music: Now as far as I can go for the score, their isn't really that much to comment on since this film has a plethora of classic and modern songs that are used throughout the film and some of them are sung by the characters of the movie. but I can say that when their are score moments, their are some good ones that stick out like the scene where the machine that Rosita built to help her kids get ready for school has this fun upbeat rhythm to it that is fun to dance to and a sort of cartoonish flow to it as well thanks to the films composer Joby Talbot (Hitchhickers Guide to the Galaxy, which was directed by Sings director too) But the show stopper here is the songs performed by the films celebrities who all do great jobs at the songs they sing, from Seth Macfarlands rendition of Pennies from Heaven and My Way, to I'm still Standing sung by Taron Egarton and Tori Kelly singing Hallelujah and Don't you worry 'bout a thing. One of my favorites performed on the soundtrack would have to by Jennifer Hudsons rendition of Golden Slumber/Carry that Weight by the Beetles. but this movie also has 2 songs written for it that are great too, the Stevie Wonder and Ariana Grande's Faith and, my favorite performaned by Scarlett Johansson as Ash "Set it all Free" about her breaking free from her boyfriend and not being held back.
For my finale verdict, I give this film a 9 out of 10. Yes, I give that high of a score. It's such a feel good movie that I found myself enjoying this movie even more so than Finding Dory. Heck, I'd maybe even put it above Kubo and Moana. But you're going to have to wait for my final verdict during the Blaze Heart Animated film awards of 2016 sometime soon.
Details
Published:
8 years ago
01 Feb 2017 02:22 CET
Initial: c2e5610651ebf44d294f379e5627668a
Full Size: 3c1e318266a17e84306d83b176943dab
Large: 7c1ae3bfe7ac4a3785381fb878f997a1
Small: 56708096831e09de737848d7984e1dfa
Stats
81 views
2 favorites
7 comments
