‘Sing’ Blu-ray Review: An Animal Musical Extravaganza

Sing, directed by Garth Jennings, follows a colorful cast of anthropomorphic animals as they vie to win the grand prize at a singing competition.

Headed by a koala named Buster Moon (Matthew McConaughey), the singing competition is a last-ditch effort to save his failing theater. When a mistake on a flyer advertises the grand prize as $100,000 instead of $100, he attracts half the city to the show’s audition as they enter for both monetary and personal reasons. In the end he decides to cast a group of misfits: a duo comprised of an under-appreciated mother of 25 piglets (Reese Witherspoon) and her flamboyant singing partner (Nick Kroll), a rebel porcupine teen, a shy elephant (Tori Kelly), a con-artist mouse (Seth MacFarlane), and a gorilla who wants to show his father that following his dream is a better alternative than joining the family gang (Taron Egerton).

Meanwhile, Buster faces his own challenges as he, with the aide of his friend Eddie, a dead-beat heir (John C. Reilly), must figure out how to finance the show and also get the prize money for the potential winner. One of the main plots of the movie comprises of Buster struggling to keep his theater afloat long enough to get to opening night.

One of Sing‘s successes is how it’s able to create characters with complex personal issues and unite them through music, which in one way or the other is therapeutic for all of them. At times, however, the screen-time seems too thinly spread among the characters, creating some subplots that don’t feel completely resolved.

The voice actors lend their powerful singing voices to their characters, which add to the unique characterizations of each contestant in Buster’s show. These songs, however, are mostly restricted to covers. While some may not mind hearing renditions of classics like “Hallelujah” and more modern pop songs like “fire work,” the film could have benefited from a more original score. Since music is such a large part of the film, original songs could have been used to plunge the viewer into the world of Sing and  make it more distinct.

The blue-ray DVD review includes special features, including three shorts: Gunter Babysits, Love at First Sight, Eddie’s Life Coach. Also included are interviews with the directors, videos on the creative process, and music videos.