# Sing - Blu-ray Review



## Mike Edwards (Mar 10, 2011)

[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=93641[/img] 
*Title: Sing* 

*Movie:* :4stars:
*Video:* :5stars:
*Audio:* :4.5stars:
*Extras:* :4stars: 

*HTS Overall Score:*91



[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=93642[/img]*Summary*
“Sing” is one of those movies that banks its entire popularity and success based upon the musical numbers being sung within itself. It’s not exactly trying to be uber deep, and really doesn’t do much with the storyline besides a basic roll with your classic “guy trying to make something of himself” trope. However, it’s a toe tapping good time that turns out to be a whole lot of fun for the whole family. I was laughing, tapping my toes to the beats, and actually getting invested in the characters despite my logical brain saying I REALLY shouldn’t. “Sing” is light and fluffy with talking animals and lots and LOTS of pop songs from the last decade (and a few from the past as well). Despite being fairly fluffy and innocuous, the movie manages to eke out enough heart and soul to properly engage the adults and enough flash and visual flair to keep the kids enthralled the whole time (at least my nephews and nieces were). 

Buster Moon (Matthew McConaughey) is a failing entertainer who has spent his life in the world of musical show business. He and his father opened up “Moon Theater” many years ago, and he’s spent most of his life chasing after the joys of stage productions and musical theater. The only thing is that he’s been doing it REALLY badly all these years. Moon Theater is a failing business and he and his assistant are all that’s left of the business. Even his best friend Eddie (John C. Reilly) isn’t too enthused with this chances of success any time soon. Well, they say that the best ideas are the ones that come from desperation, and by golly these are desperate times. Buster is not about to lose his theater and he’s come up with said desperate plan. A plan to host a singing contest (much like “American Idol” and the like) and THIS will finally be his climb back up the ladder to glory!

With only $1,000 to his name, Buster puts out ads for the competition (only his secretary accidentally adds a couple more zeroes to the flyer by accident) and soon HUNDREDS of people are replying (to the accidentally inflated prize money) and this show is ON. The contestants consist of a variety of animals from all walks of life. A house Pig by the name of Rosita (Reese Witherspoon) who just desperately wants to have fulfill her dream of singing even though she’s got a billion little piglets around her ankles, a punk rock porcupine named Ash (ScarJo), a German accented dancing pig named Gunter (Nick Kroll), a gorilla named Johnny (Taran Egerton) that wants out from under his father’s petty street crime gang, a smooth talking mouse named Mike (Seth MacFarlane) and a shy little girl from the poorer side of town named Meena (Tori Kelly) who doesn’t have the courage to really go all in. 

[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=93650[/img]Again, there’s really NOT a whole lot of story to go by here. All of the contestants have their own small subplots about acceptance and strength in being who they really are on the inside. Rosita is petrified thinking that her middle-aged life as a house mom has rendered her obsolete on the dance floor, and Mike is a smooth-talking gambler who gets in WAAAAAAAAAAAY too much trouble for his own good. Well, that and he’s an arrogant jerk (well, he’s played by Seth MacFarlane, what did you expect)? Ash gets dumped by her boyfriend when he thinks she’s “selling out” for the show, and she has to find her own unique brand of music when he’s gone. Johnny is the one living a LITERAL double life as his father’s getaway driver in their street gang, all the while desperately trying to follow his own dream of musical grandeur outside of a life of crime. Like you’d guess, they all come together in the end and make it on the grand Moon Theater stage (or what’s left of it after a few accidents).

Music flows from every corner and just about every second of “Sing”. You can almost guess that from the trailer, but it really IS the mainstay of the film. Just about every second of the movie is pulsing with some sort of pop beat and there are quite a few remixes and renditions of famous pop songs throughout the movie. I’m not WILD fan of young aged pop songs in the last decade (sorry, I’m still stuck in Joan Jett and Whitesnake days), but I had a grin on my face and my toe tapping the whole movie. The songs are infectious and the remakes are actually a lot of fun as well (even that awful Taylor Swift song “Shake it off”). Not only that, the actors REALLY did a good job singing. It used to be that voice actors were just that, voice actors. People who sang and did voice work for animated characters, but with the recent rise of animated movies once more, big name actors and vocal talents have been getting more and more involved in these films and “Sing” is just bursting at the seams with talent. They all do a fantastic job (Taran Egerton actually really surprised me), but if you’ve read the cast list then you already know that Tori Kelly is going to be the culmination of the singers and she knocks the final song straight out of the park. 




*Rating:*

Rated PG for some rude humor and mild peril




*Video* :5stars:
[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=93658[/img]“Sing” comes to Blu-ray with what is now a very typical animated encode from a major studio. To put it simple, absolutely gorgeous. The 1.85:1 framed image is straight from the proverbial digital tap and the luscious looking animation is a sight to behold. The colors are bright and flashy, ranging from standard primary reds and blues and greens, to neon pinks and blues (for the club scenes as well as the squid show near the end). Textural details for the animals are incredible, with Eddie’s sheep hair looking intricate and defined, and the water dripping from Buster’s body during the car wash sequence showing amazing detail that almost looks touchable. Black levels are inky and deep and there is no digital artifacting that I could discern on a 120 inch screen (there looked like a flicker of aliasing here and there, but it was so minimal that I almost missed it so I find no reason to rate the movie down for it).






*Audio* :4.5stars:
[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=93666[/img]Universal is one of the best studios for not shafting the Blu-ray fans with Atmos tracks. The same Atmos track that is on the 4K UHD disc is also available on the 3D and the 2D discs as well, which makes for the best audio experience no matter the visual format. The mix is HEAVILY influenced by the musical numbers, and as such, it is an incredibly immersive experience that is just alive with pulsating music beats. The surrounds are used heavily with the music coming and going throughout the movie, but also are utilized during the car chase scenes with Johnny and Mike as well as during the incredible crash when Moon Theater takes a nose dive. LFE is tight and clean, adding a lot of midrange punch to the songs as well as going deep and low with the afore mentioned Moon Theater collapse. Vocals are above reproach and while the overheads are not used as MUCH as I would have liked, the directional placement is epic. An exceptionally well done track from Universal.







*Extras* :4stars:
[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=93674[/img]
• Mini-Movies
- Gunter Babysits - Gunter offers to watch all of Rosita's 25 piglets for the night, trying to prove he's the best babysitter ever.
- Love At First Sight - During a piano lesson with Johnny, Miss Crawly becomes nostalgic about the dancing and romancing of her youth. Johnny convinces her that it's not too late to find someone and helps her setup a profile on a dating website.
- Eddie's Life Coach - Eddie's mom signs her slacker son up for a digital training seminar to get his life back on track.
• "Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing" Music Video - A cool and unique music video starring Tori Kelly. Making a Music Video with Tori Kelly - A behind the scenes look at the making of Tori's music video with exclusive insights provided by Tori herself.
• "Faith" Music Video
• "Set It All Free" Lyric Video
• The Making of SING - We take you through the animation studios of Illumination with interviews from Chris Meledandri, producer Janet Healy, the various animation teams and the voice talent of SING.
• Finding the Rhythm: Editing SING - Illumination editor Greg Perler, takes us inside the edit bay and reveals the secrets behind cutting an animated film. We'll plunge into his world in this fun and eye-opening peek inside the room where the magic gets put together.
• Character Profiles - Profiles on the incredible cast, all lending their voices to bring these animated characters to life.
- Matthew McConaughey as Buster Moon
- Reese Witherspoon as Rosita
- Tori Kelly as Meena
- Taron Egerton as Johnny
- Nick Kroll as Gunter
- Garth Jennings as Miss Crawly
• SING & Dance! - "Faith" - Celebrity choreographer Aakomon Jones takes us through a dance routine inspired by SING and the song, "Faith."
• The SING Network - The SING Network brings you the latest news and highlights the business endeavors of your favorite SING stars.
- Gunter's Dance Studio
- The Moon Theater
- Rosita's Babysitting Gizmo
- Miss Crawly's Matchmaking Service
- In The News - SING'S True Entertaining Stories highlights each of the Moon Theater's newest stars.
• The Best Of Gunter - A rapid-fire, fun mash-up of all the best Gunter one-liners.
• The Making Of The Mini-Movies - We'll explore the themes of each of the mini-movies through the eyes of the artists who made them.




*Overall:* :4.5stars:

“Sing” is a surprisingly fun movie that is accessible to both children and adults alike. It’s full of modern pop songs and bright flashy material for the young ones, and enough heart and sincerity to appeal to adults as well. I have to admit that I really was expecting the movie to be a mediocre mess that just existed. Universal has had some good hits with “Despicable Me” and a few others, but this looked just extremely middle of the road from all the commercials. Instead I was pleasantly surprised to have a film that didn’t try to be anything special, but still just had a blast doing what it did best, entertain. The voice acting is phenomenal, and the songs and remixes are a treat to listen to. The audio and video specs for “Sing” are absolutely incredible and the extras are really beefy for a modern release. Definitely worth a good watch.


*Additional Information:*

Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspon, Scarlett Johansson
Directed by: Christophe Lourdelet, Garth Jennings
Written by: Garth Jennings
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 AVC
Audio: English: Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 Core), Spanish DD 7.1, French DD 5.1
Studio: Universal
Rated: PG
Runtime: 108 Minutes 
Blu-ray Release Date: March 21st, 2017




*Buy Sing On Blu-ray at Amazon*
*Buy Sing On 4K Blu-ray at Amazon*
*Buy Sing 3D On Blu-ray at Amazon*




*Recommendation: Good Watch​*







More about Mike


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## tripplej (Oct 23, 2011)

Thanks for the review. I wanted to see this one in the theater but due to work and other issues, was not able to check it out. Now, that I have read the review, will definitely get this one for the whole family to enjoy.


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## Jon Liu (May 21, 2007)

I'll definitely be picking this one up. I'm actually a fan of some of the modern-day pop songs. My daughters really like Taylor Swift, including the "Shake It Off" song. So this is definitely a no-brainer. Now the question is, which version to I pick up, the UHD version or 3D version...


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## Mike Edwards (Mar 10, 2011)

Jon Liu said:


> I'll definitely be picking this one up. I'm actually a fan of some of the modern-day pop songs. My daughters really like Taylor Swift, including the "Shake It Off" song. So this is definitely a no-brainer. Now the question is, which version to I pick up, the UHD version or 3D version...


the UHD is really mediocre. BARELY distinguishable from the Blu-ray (although the Blu-ray is top notch)


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## Jon Liu (May 21, 2007)

Very good to know, Mike! I will pick up the 3D version then; at least there will be a noticeable difference there!


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