Review: In 'Sing 2,' Bono proves that, even as a lion, he classes up even the most ridiculous movie

The animated “Sing 2” is an improvement on its 2016 predecessor “Sing,” but that’s not saying a lot. It’s still a jukebox musical with a half-dozen characters each playing through their underdeveloped subplots — only some of the songs are worth the build-up.

Buster Moon, the koala theater impresario voiced by Matthew McConaughey, has everything going his way. He’s producing a show in his town’s biggest theater, a take on “Alice in Wonderland” that opens with Alice — played by the teen elephant Meena (voiced by Tori Kelly) — and the cast singing a passable cover of Prince’s “Let’s Go Crazy.” Buster’s hoping a talent scout from Redshore City, this universe’s version of Las Vegas, will be wowed enough to book them for an extended run.

But when the scout, Suki (voiced by Chelsea Peretti), tells Buster the act isn’t good enough for the big city, Buster is not phased. He still loads up his cast into a bus and heads to Redshore City, to audition for the ruthless mogul, a wolf named Mr. Crystal (voiced by Bobby Cannavale).

Crystal is a hard sell, and in desperation Buster drops the name of Redshore City’s most famous rock star, Clay Calloway. Buster promises Crystal he can get Calloway to perform — something the reclusive rocker hasn’t done in 15 years, since the death of his wife. 

I should mention that the reason for the awestruck tone these folks hit when talking about Clay Calloway is that the character, literally a lion, is voiced by Bono. Yes, the Bono, the frontman for U2. And all of Calloway’s songs are U2 songs — and it’s hard not to feel the emotional pull of “Where the Streets Have No Name” or “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” even when coming out of the mouths of animated animals.

So Buster prepares a show to showcase Calloway’s gifts, a musical science-fiction extravaganza devised by the flamboyant pig, Gunter (voiced by Nick Kroll). During rehearsal, Buster must handle: his star, the mama pig Rosita (voiced by Reese Witherspoon) overcoming a fear of heights; Johnny (voiced by Taron Egerton), the gorilla, learning to dance from a hip-hop street artist, Nooshy (voiced by Letitia Wright); Meena having to the stage with an egomaniacal bull actor (voiced by Eric Andre); and finding a place in the show for Crystal’s daughter, Porsha (voiced by Halsey). Meanwhile, Buster assigns Ash (voiced by Scarlett Johansson), the punk-rock porcupine, to talk to Calloway, musician to musician, to convince him to come out of hiding.

So, as with the first movie, director-writer Garth Jennings stuffs too many plot threads and song cues into the mix, creating a frenetic, chaotic mess. Sometimes that energy works in the movie’s favor, but not often enough — until Bono finally shows up, in a stirring duet with Johansson that is the emotional high point. 

——

‘Sing 2’

★★1/2

Opens Wednesday, December 22, in theaters everywhere. Rated PG for some rude material and mild peril/violence. Running time: 112 minutes.