2016’s Illumination hit Sing was pretty stacked with talent, already amassing the voices of Matthew McConaughey, Scarlett Johansson, Reese Witherspoon, and Taron Egerton in its roster of hit makers. Five years later, Sing 2 sees the return of those very cast members, with a couple of new additions to make it all sound sweeter the second time around. And yes, Bono is in this movie, and you can hear him in the first trailer for director Garth Jennings’ big sequel.
Our first look at Sing 2 gives us a pretty good framework of what to expect. With a lampoon of talent competitions like America’s Got Talent opening the action, we hear songs from Billie Eilish, Eminem, and Drake all getting the chop. Apparently, it’s going to take more than those artists to impress the new antagonist in the series, a wolf named Jimmy Crystal (Bobby Cannavale.)
And how do you soothe such a savage beast? You apparently dangle a legendary act like the reclusive lion Clay Calloway (Bono), and promise that you can seal the deal. The only problem is, as per usual, Buster (Matthew McConaughey) and his pals don’t exactly have a plan in the bag. Which is where the adventure, and the music, of Sing 2 starts to shine.
With new songs comes new characters, and even fresher problems for the gang in Sing 2. The pressure to deliver Clay, who’s been in a mysterious self imposed exile for 15 years, is just the beginning of the hurdles that need to be cleared. Stakes are absolutely raised in Sing, and with that comes the potential for mind melting performances. Just hearing performances like Rocketman’s Taron Egerton singing Shawn Mendes’ “There’s Nothing Holding Me Back” is enough to sell why Sing 2 is such an exciting possibility.
That doesn’t mean that the very personal stakes that originated in Sing will totally be forgotten, including the same heart that made that first film so memorable. While there’s plenty of new flash to behold, Sing 2 doesn’t seem to have forgotten where it came from. Seeing Reese Witherspoon returning to the role of Rosita, her character deals with the stresses that this new act provides a link to the trials that she and her fellow singers overcame in that first film.
Sequels are tricky, especially when they’re spawned from an animated hit that’s seen its audience grow a couple years older. Looking at this first trailer for Sing 2, that concern is more than addressed, as the tone and tunes both look to have kept in step with the times. A promising future can be had, should this Illumination sequel stick the landing.
It’s going to take a little while to see if that’s the case though, as Sing 2 heads to theaters this Christmas, starting on December 22nd. Should you need something to entertain yourself, or any young moviegoers in your family, you can check out 2021’s release schedule and see what’s on the horizon. Or, if you want to watch Sing all over again, at the time of this writing, you can catch it streaming with ads through FXNow.
