First, I thought Sing (2016) was funny and entertaining. It had great voice acting, great characters, good songs, great musical numbers, and pretty animation.

So, I wasn't expecting much in the sequel. But, after watching I found it was just as good as the first movie.

Sing 2 (2021) was really entertaining. The characters are voiced well by the same great voice cast and I thought they were also funny.

There were scenes I didn't expect, and they were funny especially when there are serious moments, then they are surprising.

The songs are good, and the voice actors can sing well, along with great choreographed dance numbers. The animation is pretty and has improved since the first movie.

I think Illumination animation is really good and they've done great movies, like Despicable Me. The 3rd act was surprising and the final performance is nicely staged with great songs.

When the 3rd act starts, I start liking the movie even more while it keeps surprising me with unexpected scenes. I really do suggest watching Sing 2 (2021),but only if you liked the first one.

I really think you will laugh and will be really entertained in how it plays out.

This is "Sing 2", an American English-language animated movie from 2021, so relatively new still, but not super new. The number in the title makes it of course very obvious that here we have a sequel and with the German version I saw they picked a different title where it was not this obvious. So yeah, I cannot comment on the voice work here, at least not the one by the likes of McConaughey, Witherspoon and Johansson. I do like Bastian Pastewka though. Iris Berben on the other hand not at all. Maybe one reason why I enjoyed the watch here was that I just like animated films in general, no matter if we are talking Disney, Pixar or Illumination. Yep, this film is from the guys who also brought us the Despicable Me and Minions franchise. Writer and director was the very experienced Garth Jennings, who was also in charge of the first Sing movie and has had the most interesting career direction if you look at how he directed music videos for Radiohead, R. E. M. (love them!),Fatboy Slim, Blur and a few others. Now he does Sing 2. No judging or anything, neither in the positive nor negative direction. It's simply too different. It's the second time though he did a really nice job with these films, so I hope there will at least be a third film. You could say that in terms of the story, the gang was progressing from good to great after the first film was basically about them becoming musicians at all. A bit predictable and not the most creative plot idea perhaps, but the execution and attention to detail was quite nice. The references too of course. Just look at the Alice in Wonderland segment at the very start. I was not too surprised at all that the room was pretty full, even if it was a Monday afternoon, packed with kids and parents. Long after the original release date. And they seemed to enjoy themselves, which is not a given because the film ran for a massive 110 minutes. Not super long by general standards, but in terms of animated films, it sure is.

Obviously, all the characters from the first film are back. Many characters we have here. The consequence is that quite a few do not get too much screen time, but they all get their fair share somehow and plot inclusion. Be it the idea that one character cannot deal with his dancing teacher, be it the elephant girl and her struggles to put love on display or be it the lizard woman fleeing from a wild lion. That was actually funny how they kept this scene kids-friendly by including paintball ammunition. In general, interesting approaches here, also for the romance parts. The elephant girl can only crush on another elephant and at the same time, there is no implied romance between the gorilla and the cat who becomes his more fitting dance teacher. Pay attention to how it is a bit of a battle of the apes/monkes there, especially in the end. While the animals all act and talk like humans, they still were very careful that no romance was included between two different species. No approach that they are simply different races or so and that it would be tolerated or even appreciated. But let's not overcomplicate things. Actually, I think I saw parts of this film a long time ago. That aging lion musician caught my attention that I came across him in some survey about the trailer I think. He was voiced in the original by Bono from U2 and this is maybe the biggest downside of this film. I don't mean his voice work. Honestly, it seems as if he said he would only participate if tons of U2 music is included in here and I did not like it at all. It would have been perfectly enough to pick one song from the band, especially if it is used in this big spectacular moment towards the end that almost everybody will remember. But not four songs or how many they had in the end. I found it pretty shameful. I don't mind U2, even if I am not a fan either and maybe it would have helped if they had used the songs I like, but even then, I am pretty sure I would not have been happy with the path they took music-wise. This is really where the film comes the shortest compared to the first Sing film that included way more variation. Variety? Not sure which is the right word. Doesn't matter. You know what I mean.

The individual stories were nice like the idea of the four planets. The new characters also brought quality. Look at the wolf, look at his casting agent, look at his Smithers-like assistant, who just stays 100% loyal. But also look at his daughter and how she articulates herself. How she is a really talented musician, but actress not so much. A bit of Glee with animated characters we have here for sure. So I definitely enjoyed the story and what I liked is that they also included jokes for grown-ups that the kids will maybe not find too funny, but the adults will, so it is a good watch for the full family. I will not give you specific examples because everybody will laugh at something else, but there's no way you won't be laughing at all if you decide to watch this. The casting show segment very briefly reminded me a bit of the first film. The part where we hear an Eminem song etc. Of course, you should really not expect too much realism overall, just see this film as pointless fun and do not ask yourself or others how they managed to come up with such a challenging performance in the end despite such a brief amount of time. Or how Bono's character's mind changes so quickly and he then even is angry at himself for staying away from people for this long. I guess if they do a third film, they will also have to bring him back. After all, his character agreed to stay a part of the gang and continue with his comeback. Oh, of course I must also mention Taron Egerton's character's father and his gang who also show up at the very end and gorillas really fits nicely with what they do there, even if the inclusion was not half as much fun compared to the one in the first film. It would be really nice if they (or at least the dad) could get more screen time in a third film, but I kinda doubt it. A film about them only, maybe set a few years back, would be amazing, but probably just wishful thinking. This film here was animated for Best Feature at the Annie Awards and also received further honors/nominations and also pretty good reviews, but it was not enough to get in with the Oscars or Golden Globes.

Still, the quality is there without a doubt. Many funny moments, okay plot and just a competent execution, also visually of course and we should not take that as a given, even with the high level of animated movies nowadays. It just speaks for the genre that there are quite a few films from 2021 that are considered at least as good or even better, even if I am not sure I would agree in every single case. Overall, I enjoyed the watch for sure, but the one thing that holds this film back the most was that it turned too much into a U2 tribute film. Maybe this was where Jennings' music background comes into play, not with U2, but that his music video past makes him a suitable choice to direct the most music-focused animation franchise these days. Never in doubt for me here that I would give the film a thumbs-up and positive recommendation. Go check it out if you don't mind animated movies. It's fast fun. Lots of it. The hedgehog girl is still really cool btw. Just like ScarJo who voices her. I wonder if she and Buster will maybe get love interests eventually here in the next film(s),but then again maybe not as, at the center of it all, there will always be the music. Oh and the wet and dried koala segment early on already fully won me over with this one. The kids loved it too, not just my inner child. That's all now. Stop reading and go watch! I am glad films like this are being made. (tt6467266)

Buster Moon's proteges are playing sell-out shows in Buster's theatre, but he has bigger ambitions. He wants success for them in Redstone City, the centre of shiwbiz despite being refused an audition, he manages to blag his way into a big budget show for them, but paints himself into several corners in the process, not least of which is extreme danger from Mr Crystal, who commissioned the show. So, while production is under way, moves are afoot to find Clay Calloway, the star Buster has promised. The only thing is that no-one has seen Calloway for 15 years...

My first reaction was that I've forgotten the characters and why I should care about them. But the opening number was such a firecracker that I was immediately caught up in the main story and its various subplots, and remained so until the end. So I simply offer several thoughts (among many):

1. The musical sequences are terrific; 2. I loved Nooshy the breakdancing cat, and the whole Johnny dancing subplot; 3. I'm not a fan of Bono, but he gave a terrific performance as Clay Calloway; 4. Halsey (who?) as Crystal's daughter Porsha was a hoot. I was thinking Lina Lamont; 5. There were a number of moments when I choked and my eyes prickled.

Recommended.