Before I saw the movie “Sing”, I assumed it would be the typical animated children’s movie with talking animals and a predictable plot,  and for the most part, I was right. I had almost no expectations for this movie initially. The first trailer I had seen with Johnny the gorilla talking to his imprisoned father through a phone in a visiting room didn’t make the movie seem very appealing. The second trailer I saw made “Sing” seem like a musical, which I did not care for. The movie was a second choice, as my group was late and just decided on “Sing” as it was about to start. So again, I had next to no expectations, but the movie surprised me with a decent plot, strong cast, good song selection and an average ending.

Sing’s basic plot involves a theater owner attempting to save his failing theater by hosting a singing competition. The beginning of the movie was unimpressive and typical of an animated kids movie, but definitely engaged me as it introduced the problem that would last throughout the movie and laid the plot out. The way the characters were introduced separately and suddenly brought together through  “Buster’s” singing competition was interesting as it allowed the characters to initially develop and then form together. The time it took to grow the plot seemed to take too long for me to stay super interested, but it was involving nonetheless. Some of the characters seemed stereotypical and bland, and there weren’t many surprises throughout the rest of the movie in terms of major plot twists or character changes. While the characters were cliche, their storylines were nice as they showed their growth and their changes as the movie progressed. The song selection for the movie was pretty impressive. I expected decent songs and was impressed with “Hallelujah” by Leonard Cohen, “Under Pressure” by Queen and “Shake It Off” by Taylor Swift to name a few.

Overall, Sing had great moments that showed promise, but was ultimately just another kids computer-generated movie with talking animals and a slightly engaging plot (think The Nut Job, Over the Hedge, Zootopia). I came in with no expectations, and still came out of the theater disappointed that it was not a more impressive and engaging movie.