Buster Moon.
Camera IconBuster Moon. Credit: Supplied/Supplied

Sing review: may have you dancing in the aisles

Julian WrightEastern Reporter

AN overlong celebration of music and raw talent could test the patience levels of youngsters, but Sing will ultimately have them dancing in the aisles.

Strapped for cash theatre-owning koala Buster Moon (Matthew McConaughey) organises a singing competition when his business faces closure, but a typo on the flyer promises a $100,000 prize instead of $1000.

Of course the generous prizemoney draws hundreds of auditions, including bank-robbing protege gorilla Johnny (Taron Egerton), pig housewife Rosita (Reese Witherspoon), echidna rock chick Ash (Scarlett Johansson) and shy elephant Meena (Tori Kelly).

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Preparing for the event doesn’t run very smoothly, with each successful finalist’s personal life interfering with their rehearsal period.

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Sing builds slowly and juggles more characters than it can handle, resulting in an incredibly long film: almost two hours is far too long for a fluffy animated movie.

There are plenty of new and older cracking tracks from popular singers, which means the soundtrack is better than the film itself.

One indication was the children dancing in the aisles of an early screening.

There is a nice message about nurturing and encouraging raw talent as opposed to exploiting it for monetary gain, but it takes a round-about way of making it.

THE ESSENTIALS

Sing (G)

Directed by: Garth Jennings, Christophe Lourdelet

Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Seth MacFarlane

Three stars

Review by Julian Wright

In cinemas December 26