Sing 2 (2021)

Directed by: Garth Jennings | 110 minutes | animation, adventure | Dutch voice cast: Fedja van Huêt, Do, Chris Zegers, Birgit Schuurman, Gordon, Holly Mae Brood | Original voice cast: Matthew McConaughey, Taron Egerton, Reese Witherspoon, Tori Kelly, Nick Kroll, Bobby Cannavale, Halsey, Scarlett Johansson, Bono, Eric André, Pharrell Williams, Letitia Wright, Chelsea Peretti, Garth Jennings

‘Follow your heart and keep believing in your dreams’. That was the main message of ‘Sing’ (2016), the colorful and musical animation film from Illumination Entertainment. That studio, which also presented the film viewer with the three ‘Despicable Me’ films and the spin-off ‘Minions’ (2015), is a master at ‘pleasing’ its audience. With a colorful company of mostly animal characters, cheerful music that can be danced as much as possible and a high joke density, Illumination knows how to win over younger viewers in particular. However, in terms of character development, storylines and emotional resonance, there is still a lot to be gained for founder Chris Meledandri and his team. With the sequel to the very catchy ‘Sing’ despite its superficiality, which was called ‘Sing 2’ (2021) without too much inspiration, the audience is once again presented with a very sweet whipped cream cake. A pastry that is a feast for the eye (and ear) and which you would love to sink your teeth into, but which unfortunately only gives a satisfied feeling for a short time.

‘Sing 2’ largely follows a similar formula to the first film. The film opens with an almost psychedelic musical variation on ‘Alice in Wonderland’, which the stars of the first film perform with conviction in the New Moon Theater, the now flourishing theater of Buster Moon, the ever optimistic koala with a passion for entertainment. In their own city, the hall is sold out night after night, but Buster dreams big. He would love to make it to the entertainment capital of the world, Redshore City (which was a big nod to Las Vegas, of course). However, cool talent scout Suki Lane, a long-legged red fox, casually informs him that he is simply not good enough for Redshore. But Buster won’t let himself be told that twice: along with his talented friends, including the elephant Meena, the gorilla Johnny, porcupine Ash and pigs Rosita and Gunther, he goes on his own to Redshore to audition for the wealthy, powerful but ruthless white wolf Jimmy Chrystal. Like many others, he threatens to serve them hard, until Gunther catches his attention with a pitch for an imaginative alien musical. Especially when he drops the name Clay Calloway, Chrystal becomes intrigued. Calloway was once a huge star, but has lived like a recluse since his wife’s death. He gives Buster and co three weeks to set up a production and to convince Calloway to make his comeback. A race against time begins…

The conflicts that arise can be guessed in advance. Johnny has to rehearse a dance number, but has the greatest possible difficulty with it; Rosita does not dare to perform her acrobatic act; Meena is paired up with the most smug yak she’s ever seen for a romantic number, and Chrystal also wants his daughter Porscha to be cast in one of the lead roles. But the hardest part is persuading the embittered old lion Clay Calloway to pick up his guitar again.

For the fans of ‘Sing’, this second film is a reunion with old acquaintances. Almost all voice actors from the first part are back. In the original version, these include Matthew McConaughey (Buster), Scarlet Johansson (Ash), Taron Egerton (Johnny), Reese Witherspoon (Rosita), and Tori Kelly (Meena); in the Dutch translation we hear Fedja van Huêt, Do, Chris Zegers, Birgit Schuurman, Gordon and Holly Mae Brood. Incidentally, we also hear the songs in English in the Dutch version. Director and writer Garth Jennings managed to get the role of Clay Calloway none other than U2 frontman Bono, who probably gave in when he saw opportunities to promote the brand new single ‘Your Song Saved My Life’ to an audience of millions. As in ‘Sing’, the musical intermezzos are also strung together in this sequel. The music of contemporary stars such as Billie Eilish, BTS, Shawn Mendes, The Weeknd and Kygo goes hand in hand with classics from Elton John (‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road’), Prince (‘Let’s Go Crazy’), Aretha Franklin (‘ I Say a Little Prayer’) and of course U2 (‘I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For’). And big hits are interspersed with lesser-known songs like Mercury Rev’s ‘Holes’ and Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ ‘Heads Will Roll’. Perhaps the best find is Miss Crawley, the elderly iguana who serves as Buster’s assistant and prefers to roar along in the car to System of a Down’s hard-hitting ‘Chop Suey’.

The music is the great strength of ‘Sing 2′. Especially in the more dynamic songs it takes a lot of effort to sit still. Where the film tries to go in depth, it just doesn’t hit the right strings. What remains is a colorful company of charming characters that you like to watch and listen to, but who just don’t want to come to life. Didn’t we see that in the first movie too? It’s pretty much the signature of Illumination. Maybe our expectations are too high? The youngest generation of viewers will not lose any sleep over that lack of depth and will undoubtedly cringe with laughter at the antics of all those cheerful friends, who set things upside down on songs they recognize a large part of!