Around Christmas time a friend recommended we watch a film called Sing.
Released back in 2016, this animated hit from Illumination (the studio which brought us Despicable Me and The Secret Life of Pets) was an instant hit in our house, with gorilla Johnny becoming a firm favourite with our five-year-old son, Isaac.
Fortunately being a bit late to the party meant we didn’t have to wait long for Sing 2 to hit cinema screens.
We headed to the Showcase in Peterborough on the opening weekend and Isaac loved it so much, we took him to the South Holland Centre for a second viewing last week.
For anyone who’s unfamiliar with the storyline, the first film introduced us to a koala named Buster Moon (voiced by Matthew McConaughey), who dreamed of putting on a spectacular show in his small town theatre.
He launches a talent search offering a substantial prize and ends up with crooning gorilla Johnny (voiced by Taron Egerton), mummy pig Rosita (Reece Witherspoon) who is partnered with Gunter (Nick Kroll), porcupine rocker Ash (Scarlett Johannson) and shy elephant Meena (Tori Kelly).
Sing 2 sees the gang back together, bidding to get their show on the stage in Redshaw City.
Despite being turned down by a talent scout, they decide to try their luck anyway and jump on the bus to the bright city lights.
They manage to blag an audition with wolf Mr Crystal (Bobby Canavale) and Gunter’s idea for a sci-fi musical, entitled Out of This World, captures his attention.
That, along with the promise of the return of reclusive rock star Clay Calloway (voiced by U2 frontman Bono) as the star of the show, means the green light.
With literally no idea on sets, music or pretty much anything else, Buster sets about trying to pull together a spectacular show in super quick time, while his right-hand gecko Miss Crawley (voiced by Garth Jennings, who also wrote and directed both Sing films) goes off in search of Calloway.
Crystal insists his daughter Porsche, who has an amazing voice (step up Halsey) but can’t act, takes a role in the show, causing Buster even more stress.
Johnny meanwhile is not getting on too well with mean monkey choreographer Klaus Kickenklober (Adam Buxton) so he recruits street dancing lynx Nooshy (Black Panther’s Letitia Wright) to teach him a few tricks.
Meena is paired up with egotistical (and hilarious) yak Darius (Eric Andre), while all she wants to do is spend time with ice-cream seller Alphonso (Pharrell Williams).
I won’t give away the ending but to say it’s uplifting is an understatement.
Sing 2 is an all round family film – Isaac loves it and to be quite honest I think I enjoyed it just as much as he did.
There’s plenty of grown-up humour, some tear-jerking moments and if, like me, you’re a music lover, it really hits the spot.
There’s a great soundtrack too, and I can attest to the fact that listening to Egerton’s version of the Coldplay hit A Sky Full of Stars never gets old – even on repeat at the request of a five-year-old!
Voice Verdict: 9/10
