Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		3.5

Sing 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman March 11, 2017

Sing is a cute, toe-tapping good time of a movie that banks on drawing in audiences glued to the plethora of vocal talent shows filling up the airwaves -- America's Got Talent, American Idol, and The Voice -- to sell tickets and Blu-rays but it's also a story of people, albeit people represented as animals, and how not fame and fortune but rather the value of family and camaraderie and striving to live a dream are the real indictors of success. It's not exactly groundbreaking stuff, and the music definitely comes first -- even the Blu-ray, after a trailer for Trolls, promotes The Voice, a new animated Mariah Carey movie based on one of her Christmas songs, iHeart Radio, and the Sing soundtrack -- but the film isn't an empty talent show with carefully engineered studio music performed by cute animals, either. The film finds a healthy balance between showmanship and heart, and it's sure to win over audiences who enjoy reality music TV but also viewers in search of an animated film with some tenderness, depth, and purpose to it, too.

A young Koala named Buster Moon (voiced by Matthew McConaughey) once dreamed of being an astronaut. His life forever changed, however, when at the tender young age of six he fell in love with music. Fast forward a bit. He's all grown up and doing his best to run his music production business...but he's mostly running it into the ground. Money is drying up and his last, desperate hope to succeed in the business he loves is to open up auditions for everyday animals to come try out for a major singing competition. The reward: $1,000 for the winner, and for him, he hopes, a rejuvenated interest in his business. The contest draws more interest than he anticipated, primarily because his absentminded secretary (voiced by Garth Jennings) accidentally added a couple of 0's to the prize money listing. Amongst all of the contestants, a few stand out: a shy elephant named Meena (voiced by Tori Kelly); a Rock-'n-Roll porcupine named Ash (voiced by Scarlett Johansson); a stay-at-home mamma pig named Rosita (voiced by Reese Witherspoon); a small, suave mouse named Mike (voiced by Seth MacFarlane); and a gorilla who has been forced into a life of crime named Johnny (voiced by Taron Egerton). Who will come out on top? and how will Buster pay them 100 times the money he wanted to put up? Will something other than the draw of fame and fortune result from the show?

Music is everywhere in Sing. It's being sung, of course, in auditions, in rehearsals, in kitchens, on street corners, and on the big stage. It also plays on the radio, lingers in the background at restaurants, and various pop songs support and in many ways define key scenes. Animals populate the world, too, replacing humans but representing them as fully functional, usually bipedal beings who go about their daily lives and experience the same emotions as everyday people: they're timid, they're overwhelmed by life, they're afraid of being who they are, they're greedy, they're needy, they want to find an easy path (and an easy pass) to success. Sing's main attractions are song and cuddly animals. That's what's going to sell tickets and Blu-rays and toys and soundtracks. But that added depth, that altered reflection on humanity is its best asset and what makes it stand apart from the cute and enjoyable frivolities on the surface. In that way, it's a surefire bet that it'll please the kids in it for the externalities and the audits who might very well be pleasantly surprised with what the movie has to offer beyond singing pigs and rock star porcupines.

Crafting the characters as animals gets a wider range of audiences in the door, but these aren't just cute and cuddly stand-ins, cartoon caricatures, or empty vessels who are nothing without their voice or instrument. Sing plays with an abundance of character depth and heart. The roster is diverse not only in the different animals depicted in the film but also in the very real and relatable and very human emotions and qualities they bring to the movie. It's not just about their passion to sing and dream of making it big. The film follows, and explores with surprising depth, their relationships, how they carry themselves, what they hope to achieve with a win or, for some of them, just by showing up. There's the mouse who splurges on himself before even winning the prize. There's the porcupine who learns that love isn't always an unbreakable bond. There's the pig who wants to make a better life for her family. There's the ape trapped in a life of crime and living under his father's shadow. There's the shy elephant who is too timid to let the world hear her sing. The film follows the basic maneuverings usually found in these sorts of movies -- character introductions, big ideas, big hopes, big dreams, setbacks, disaster, and overcoming the odds -- but it does it all with a care for its characters and a keen awareness of what's truly important for each one of them. Sure they'll get their moment in the spotlight, but that's ultimately just a bridge to something much more valuable.

Sing's core filmmaking merits stand up, too. Voice work is superb. The main cast understands each character deeply, not only their love of music but the emotional underpinnings that drive them towards the competition and define them as individuals. The voices come effortlessly and, along with the animation, help to make a fully-defined character roster that might not, and probably should not, be remembered with any of the greats of digital animation -- the Lightning McQueens, the Woodys of the world -- but that compliment their movie very well. Animation is bright and colorful, characters look great, the world is detailed and alive...it's everything a modern, cutting-edge digital production should be. Musical selections, whether new content or old tunes, are perfectly integrated into the movie. This is great stuff, a rock-solid movie all-around that's much better than its advertisements indicate.

Sing 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Note: The included screenshots are sourced from a 1080p Blu-ray disc. Watch for 4K screenshots at a later date.

It's The Secret Life of Pets all over again. Sing's UHD presentation, based on the pairing of the Samsung UBD-K8500 and the Sony XBR-65X930C (and the reported 2K finish), shows practically no discernible differences when compared to the 1080p Blu-ray disc. No apparent uptick in detail in either up-close shots of fur and clothes or medium shots of cityscapes and home/office/theater interiors, no apparent difference in color even with the HDR label on the package. The review equipment does read it as playing back in 2160p and HDR, so again unless it's something with Universal's animated movie disc authoring (which isn't an issue on the studio's live action films as some difference is always evident), there's no major differences worth noting. The UHD does look spectacular, just no more spectacular than the Blu-ray. Read the 1080p Blu-ray review here; it all directly applies to this UHD. Note that I've re-evaluated the scoring for this circumstance since The Secret Life of Pets. With no difference, there seems to be no reason to give this a anything approaching a high score. I even considered leaving the field blank or, on the other side of the ledger, scoring it the same as the Blu-ray. Unfortunately, none of the options really convey the balance between "hugely disappointed that a movie with so many colors and incredible details can be so underwhelming" and "thrilled that the image looks great in a vacuum." 2.5 it is.

Sing 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Sing belts out a quality Dolby Atmos soundtrack. While the overheads aren't used in abundance, more obviously engaged in key moments, they do blend nicely with the track and create a slightly fuller, more immersive stage. Amongst the highlights are several moments in the film's second half. Words nicely reverberate -- around and above -- inside the mostly empty theater around the 65-minute mark. The 80+-minute mark sees a nice zip upwards towards the ceiling. A zooming helicopter flies above near the end, and the big finale musical numbers offer significant potency and play with a greater sense of overhead presence. Music is always very aggressive, certainly the showstopper throughout the track. Overheads aren't always a key component in musical delivery earlier in the film, but there's always terrific instrumental and vocal clarity, big and effortless width and depth along the traditional speaker orientation, and positive low end support. City atmospherics are satisfyingly diverse and well positioned; listeners will feel immersed into city streets, busy kitchens, or involved in high-speed car travel where some of the most impressive effects, namely a throaty car engine that zips and zooms about, can be heard. Dialogue is well defined as well, center positioned and well prioritized above all atmospherics and music. A line here or there sounds mildly sharp-edged, but it's nothing worth worrying about. Overall, this is a great soundtrack from Universal.

Sing 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Sing's supplemental content is divided into two categories on the main menu screen: Bonus and Mini-Movies. No unique extras are included on the UHD disc, but the mini-movies do carry over, presented in 2160p and with HDR colors. Below is a list of the core supplements, included on the 1080p Blu-ray disc. A UV/iTunes digital copy code is included with purchase.

Mini-Movies: three movies total, plus a making-of.

• Gunter Babysits (1080p, Dolby Digital Plus 7.1, 3:47): Gunter looks after Rosita's children, to humorous result.
• Love at First Sight (1080p, Dolby Digital Plus 7.1, 4:18): Miss Crawly tries out online dating.
• Eddie's Life Coach (1080p, Dolby Digital Plus 7.1, 4:16): Eddie's mother forces him to use a product sold by an infomercial.
• The Making of the Mini-Movies (1080p, 5:56): The filmmakers discuss the enjoyable process of making lightning-quick shorts.

Bonus:

• The Making of Sing (1080p, 4:40): A quick look at the project's origins, story, Garth Jennings' work on the film, the basis for the animals, voice work, the digital animation process, the movie's spirit, and the movie's purpose.
• Finding the Rhythm: Editing Sing (1080p, 2:44): A rapid-fire look at, as the title suggests, the process of editing a film together, which is more choosing "what to put in" rather than "what to cut out."
• Character Profiles (1080p, 12:25 total runtime): Quick looks at characters and the actors who voice them. Included are Matthew McConaughey as Buster Moon, Reese Witherspoon as Rosita, Tori Kelly as Meena, Taron Egerton as Johnny, Nick Kroll as Gunter, and Garth Jennings as Miss Crawly.
• Music Video (1080p, 3:11): "Don't You Worry 'Bout a Thing."
• Making a Music Video with Tori Kelly (1080p, 2:52): The artist who voices Meena discusses making "Don't You Worry 'Bout a Thing."
• Music Video (1080p, 2:46): "Faith."
• Lyric Video (1080p, 2:49): "Faith." Song lyrics are displayed on the screen.
• Lyric Video (1080p, 3:40): "Set It All Free" (the song that plays over the main menu).
• Sing & Dance! - "Faith" (1080p, 6:31): Several dancers show off their moves and how to perform them.
• The Sing Network (1080p): A five-part feature that is a collection of TV ads for various venues, doodads, and services. The final of the five offers character profiles from the Sing universe. Included are Gunter's Dance Studio (1:22), The Moon Theater (0:43), Rosita's Babysitting Gizmo (1:03), Miss Crawly's Matchmaking Service (0:55), and In the News (9:09 total runtime), which highlights the following characters: Buster Moon, Gunter, Rosita, Johnny, Meena, Ash, and Mike.
• The Best of Gunter (1080p, 1:03): A clip collage featuring the film's zany character.

Sing 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Sing is a surprisingly good movie, accessible for the kids -- colorful, cute, lots of music -- but mature enough for adults. It walks that fine line, usually reserved for Pixar, very well and very confidently. It's much more than some of the targeted, music-centric ads might lead one to believe. Universal's UHD release of Sing appears more-or-less identical to the 1080p Blu-ray. Unless it's equipment error and Universal's digitally animated features not playing nice with it, there's no reason, based on this review, to spend more on the UHD copy.