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Movie Review: Sing 2

Mike Tyrkus

A sequel to the surprise 2016 hit, Sing, the second installment, the aptly titled Sing 2, offers pretty much the same experience as it did the first time around. In fact, one might be tempted to borrow from the lyrics of the old Herman’s Hermits song “I’m Henry VIII, I Am” and sing: “second verse, same as the first.”

The new film begins a few years after the events of the first and finds the over-reaching koala, Buster Moon (Matthew McConaughey), anxious for his now successful theater to reach even greater heights and begins planning on exposing the troupe to an even larger audience. Unfortunately, this dream is thwarted when Buster is told, in no uncertain terms, that his cadre of performers is fine for the small market, but they just don’t have what it takes to make in the bigger ones. This prompts Buster to boast that he has a science-fiction musical in development that is set to star his regulars and reclusive legendary rock star Clay Calloway (Bono). Of course, Buster hasn’t spoken to Calloway, nor does he have an actual show yet, but the production in approved and he must go about planning and producing the show while simultaneously keeping his troupe together and convincing Calloway to star in the show.

Scarlett Johansson and Bono in “Sing 2.”

Writer/director Garth Jennings returns to both roles for Sing 2 and does a credible job of delivering more of the same. There are some rewarding moments in the film, but they don’t surface until late in the film and by that time you may have already made your decision as to whether you are in or you are out on the film as a whole.

Of all the returning performers, only Scarlett Johansson’s Ash is afforded any character development as she proves to be the connection to Calloway that the troupe needs to get him on board. All of the other characters go about doing more of the same, only to slightly higher degrees than they did in the first film. Again, the second verse is the same as the first for the most part.

Like its predecessor, the songs featured in Sing 2 are targeted at pretty much the same audience as the first film. That is, in essence, the problem with the film as a whole; it is aimed at giving those who enjoyed the first film another ample helping of the same and offers very little for anyone else.

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Mike Tyrkus

Editor in Chief at CinemaNerdz.com
An independent filmmaker, co-writer and director of over a dozen short films, the Editor in Chief of CinemaNerdz.com has spent much of the last three decades as a writer and editor specializing in biographical and critical reference sources in literature and the cinema, beginning in February 1991 reviewing films for his college newspaper. He was a member of the Detroit Film Critics Society, as well as the group's webmaster and one-time President for over a decade until the group ceased to exist. His contributions to film criticism can be found in Magill's Cinema Annual, VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever (of which he was the editor for nearly a decade until it too ceased to exist), the International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers, and the St. James Film Directors Encyclopedia (on which he collaborated with editor Andrew Sarris). He has also appeared on the television program Critic LEE Speaking alongside Lee Thomas of FOX2 and Adam Graham, of The Detroit News. He currently lives in the Detroit area with his wife and their dogs.

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