Film Review: SING 2 (2021): U2 Music And Bono, Himself, Add Adult Appeal To Animated Sequel

Sing 2 Review

Sing 2 (2021) Film Review, a movie directed by Garth Jennings and starring Matthew McConaughey, Taron Egerton, Tori Kelly, Reese Witherspoon, Nick Kroll, Scarlett Johansson, Bobby Cannavale, Halsey, Bono, Eric Andre, Pharrell Williams, Letitia Wright, Chelsea Peretti, Garth Jennings, Adam Buxton and Jennifer Saunders.

Director Garth Jennings’ animated sequel, Sing 2, is a music lover’s dream. From the opening Prince song, “Let’s Go Crazy” to Coldplay’s “A Sky Full of Stars” to the very powerful music of U2, this is not your everyday animated comedy. But, we know it’s not your run-of-the-mill feature length cartoon when you see Oscar winners such as Matthew McConaughey and Reese Witherspoon in the voice over cast. Surprisingly, those performers aren’t the best voice talents in Sing 2. I prefer two of the new additions to the cast: Bono of U2 fame and Halsey. Of the returning cast members, Scarlett Johansson fares best in the new film as Ash, the crested porcupine who teams up with a show-stopping music sensation named Clay Calloway (terrifically voiced by Bono) but, wait, I’m getting ahead of myself.

The film opens with a variation of “Alice in Wonderland” being put on by a cast of animal actors under the supervision of Buster Moon, an aging koala bear voiced by Matthew McConaughey. They spy in the audience a theater critic who walks out about half way through the new production with Buster Moon in hot pursuit trying to get her approval of his new show. It seems like a lost cause. That is until Buster Moon and his friends convince a crooked wolf producer named Jimmy Crystal (voice of Bobby Cannavale) to take on their next show. There’s a catch, though. Buster Moon promises Jimmy that a one-time great musician named Clay Calloway will be in the production. Meanwhile, Clay hasn’t performed in years and is living somewhere in seclusion.

Miss Crawly (voiced by Jennings, the director), an elderly iguana with a removable eye, goes to find Clay but he doesn’t respond well to strangers visiting him. It seems like there’s no way in the world Clay will perform in their show. It’s too late, though, because if Buster Moon doesn’t get Clay to perform, Moon will be in serious trouble with the wicked wolf Jimmy even though Buster Moon reluctantly casts Jimmy’s seemingly talentless daughter Porsha (the delightful voice of Halsey) in a key role in their production which is a space-set farcical show.

Taron Egerton plays the voice of the gorilla with a big heart, Johnny, who the audience roots for as he pursues his ambitions throughout the film. Reese Witherspoon voices a mother pig who has big time aspirations for performing in theater despite being a nervous wreck who is afraid of heights while Tori Kelly does the voice of Meena the elephant who develops a crush on an average Joe elephant ice cream vendor. These are the standout characters in the film’s supporting cast, for the most part, but Halsey surprisingly makes for a charming character as well who is unique and her role requires her to act dumb at times but Halsey, instead, makes us root for her and we want to see her character get away from her ruthless father.

When the movie reaches its climax, there’s a rendition of “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” a U2 song that’s absolutely the standout of the movie. With Ash and Clay singing towards the end, there are some crowd pleasing moments to be had for sure. There’s also a short version of “Where the Streets Have No Name,” another U2 song, in the movie as well plus a new song from Bono at the movie’s end credits. These songs will stand out for U2 fans such as myself. Bono does a terrific job as the recluse lion who finds his passion again.

Buster Moon is actually the most problematic aspect of the movie. Although, he is seemingly just harmless and simply just wants to do well for himself and his group of performers, Buster puts his friends in such a dangerous situation. By promising a wolf of terrible character and integrity that he will have a star in his show that he probably would have no chance of getting ahold of without a lot of luck and smart intervention, Buster proves an unlikable character but luckily he’s voiced by Matthew McConaughey so we listen to him despite his flaws.

I enjoyed Sing 2 and think it has a lot of appeal to family audiences. It’s overlong at nearly two hours but has some toe-tapping sequences that must be seen and heard to be appreciated. Garth Jennings has made a fun film that will be a nice family treat this coming holiday season especially for younger movie-goers. And, for the older ones, there’s Bono–reason enough to buy a ticket.

Rating: 7/10

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