Buster Moon and his ragtag of animal friends are back to put on the show to end all shows in Garth Jennings sequel. The follow-up to the 2016 offering which saw Moon (Matthew McConaughey) strive to save his theatre with an X-Factor style show is guaranteed to put a smile on your kid’s faces but it’s a tired spectacular that rehashes the same old tropes.
Moon, eyeing an opportunity to hit the big time gathers his loyal band of talented musicians, Johnny (Taron Egerton), Rosita (Reese Witherspoon), Ash (Scarlett Johansson), Meena (Tori Kelly) and Gunter (Nick Kroll) and heads to Redshore City to catch the eye of the Simon Cowell type hotelier Jimmy Crystal (Bobby Cannavale). Crystal is not your average businessman; the steely-eyed wolf is as dodgy as they come and wouldn’t think twice about throwing a Koala off a tall building if he even thinks about crossing him.
As per usual, to get a spot performing in his hotel, Moon and Gunter come up with a Sci-fi epic idea which will see the long in retirement Clay Calloway (Bono) come out of hiding after twenty years to perform at the show – The biggest issue is Moon doesn’t know Clay or even how to contact him.
Filled with a mish-mash of pop delights showcasing the vocal stylings of a tremendous voice cast you can’t help but cynically wonder if it panders too much to the social media corporations with its viral productions when Crystal’s daughter, Porsha (Halsey) flies through the air to secure her spot on the production for fear of retaliation from Crystal.
From the rehearsal room to Ash trying to convince Calloway to take to the stage once more for his adoring fans the plotline is a tightrope of transparency. With so many recognizable songs it fails to realise it is inches away from plummeting into a Karaoke session for the under 10’s. Who am I to judge this, after all, it is made for child audiences with a concentration level that doesn’t last more than 5 minutes. For this reason alone, it’s pretty much a triumphant in keeping the sprogs entertained.
