When Maffay meets Bono: The second part of “Sing” knows how to win people over. With splendid color explosions, a touching story and congenial dubbing voices.
Berlin – A cute porcupine. A cheeky koala. A pig lady named Rosita. A mean white wolf named Crystal. Johnny the clumsy gorilla. In addition, a dancing monkey with little matchstick legs, a pot tummy, an affected little hat and an Austrian accent.
Animals and more animals in the new “Sing”, the sequel to the first part of 2016. Yes, you won’t find any people here. But the world in which Buster Moon, the lovable koala, and his friends have to assert themselves is modeled on ours, the human world.
This time, our singing friends (the first part was about a singing competition, about saving an old theater) end up in a metropolis called Redshore City that is reminiscent of Las Vegas. It’s about hope and courage, about believing in your dreams, in this Garth Jennings-bred sequel to a hit animation (the prequel has grossed more than $630 million worldwide).
Comeback for Calloway?
In the lively and colorful Redshore City, Buster and Co. want to prove themselves with a musical of their own making on a large show stage. A science fiction musical. In fact, they manage to convince the snow-white and sleazy music manager Crystal of their concerns. However, this is only because they promise to persuade the long-reclusive rock star Calloway to make a comeback.
But this Calloway (a handsome though life-bent male lion) has lost the reason for singing: it has been several years since Calloway’s beloved partner died. How are Buster Moon and the others supposed to convince this grumpy and frustrated old cat to join their musical project? Crystal gives them three weeks, then everything should be in order. An almost impossible task.
Of course, we wouldn’t be in a US production if this seemingly insoluble task didn’t turn into one of those quintessentially American somehow-then-then-everything-always-always-goes-well-stories: A courageous film like the one in so many (screen)plays.
Pop music and poppy pictures
Despite all the predictability, the whole thing is a lot of fun – which is due to the wonderfully trendy color palette as well as the cute, likeable characters. The script also takes its time for smaller vignettes, including the sweet love story about an ice cream vendor and a musical singer (both elephants). In addition, everything is accompanied by a fabulous soundtrack that both young (the film has a rating of 0) and older moviegoers will be able to agree: from Elton John to Billie Eilish.
The secret center of the animation fun is Calloway, this old (show)lion marked by fate. You don’t get it right away – at the latest after a few sentences from the grumpy, depressive Calloway, it’s clear who lends his distinctive voice to him in the German version: German rock icon Peter Maffay.
Many other great German voices can also be heard in the dubbed version of the almost two-hour song. Among them Wotan Wilke Möhring (as Crystal), Katharina Thalbach, Bastian Pastewka, even Iris Berben. But what works best is the interplay of Maffay’s unmistakable rock voice, hardened over the years, with Calloway’s hunched, massive body.
The fact that the whole thing eventually culminates in a nice German-English handover only makes things nicer: when Calloway finally enters the stage to sing. And we no longer hear Maffay coming from Calloway’s mouth, but the original English voice of U2’s Bono. dpa
