(SPOILER WARNING!!! This article does contain spoilers, if you haven’t seen the movie, just see the first paragraph to be informed without spoilers!!!)

Sing may follow the typical from nothing to something story, but there is a lot of charm and emotion that really makes up for it to make this a fun film for the family!!!

Rating: 4 Stars

It seems like in the past 3 to 4 years of doing this, I always seem to put animated movies on top of my lists for best movies of the year. It’s weird to me, and this year it is no exception. I believe these films try hard to make a great story not only for kids but for adults as well. Pixar is the king of making great animated films that really touch my soul in so many ways. Dreamworks definitely brings comedy for these animated films, but not always a compelling story. I respect the art in the animation as well, and thanks to Toy Story, we have some great computer animation graphics. I appreciate the great films they try to create for the whole family to enjoy. As the year is about to close out, they have to squeeze one in for the Holidays. That is Sing, which does have a fun premise with a great voice cast about a singing competition. What’s great is that I can watch this with my nephew and niece, and we enjoyed it.

What I Like: As expected, the animation was on point. The detail in each scene and touring around the city was awesome. I thought the voice cast was awesome, and really played their characters well. Every character has their own back story we can all connect to which made it emotional for us. Also, I believe the voice cast actually sang in their roles, and that showed the talent of this cast. The transitions from one character to another went very smoothly with little confusion. With that said, everybody came to watch this film to see some great musical performances, and that’s what they did. I liked how they blended all different songs that this generation is aware of, and added the extra character the characters needed in their performances. Heck even the performance of Frank Sinatra, “My Way,” was good and it related to the character that performed it. The final show was very extravagant, and we can sit back and enjoy the performances.

The So So: There is one part of the film I didn’t like originally, but turns out it was great for the story. I didn’t like the fact that Buster Moon, voiced by Matthew McConaughey, who is trying to get this contest together to save the theatre by selecting his performer through auditions. Once he got his performers he tried to get them out of their comfort zone by giving them songs or skills they were not used to. I thought that was a little too arrogant and pushy for a desperate character, and kind of rubbed me the wrong way. However, what that did made these characters break out of their shell and really perform their heart out. It really made that story that much better, and provided great character development for each and every performer.

What I Didn’t Like: The story does follow the typical nothing to something type of characters and plot. It really didn’t bring anything new to the table in that regard. Not only that, the theme and animation of this film reminded me a lot of Zootopia that came out earlier this year. I mean a city full of different animals living together was just all too familiar. The only difference is that Zootopia had some deeper themes about race and intolerance while Sing is more of a happy go lucky type of ordeal. Once you shake that off, you can enjoy it, but it is a black spot in a pretty good family film.

Overall: It is a fun and enjoyable movie for the whole family could come and watch. It did have a lot of good characters that bring some inspirational charm for all of us to relate in one way or another. It is a feel good story, and although there is nothing wrong with that, it does follow that feel good formula that we all seen before. However, it is still a good movie to watch, and just like my niece, dance around to the music it brings!!!

Rating: 4 Stars

(Sidenote: The Conjuring 2- The first film, I criticized for reminding me too much of The Exorcist. For this film, I can’t really say that. James Wan continues creating horror flicks with his brilliant directing and craft of making normal things creepy as heck. I just thought that the last third of the movie was just too juvenile and dumb. This may be the year of good horror movies, but for me, I just don’t get it why they are so good!!!
Rating: 3 Stars)