Sing review round-up: Here's what critics say about the animated Christmas release

The movie Sing is set to release on December 21. The animated movie is voiced by Matthew McConaughey, Jennifer Hudson, Tori Kelly, Seth MacFarlane, Reese Witherspoon, Nick Kroll, Scarlett Johansson and Taron Egerton. The characters of the animated movie include a pig named Rosita, a porcupine punk rocker called Ash, Mike the mouse and one-eyed lizard assistant Miss Crawley.

Sing has already struck a chord among movie-watchers as the song Faith has received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Song in Motion Picture. The critics have also liked the movie as Sing has received positive reviews hitting the right note.

Variety film critic, Peter Debruge, expresses that the Illumination Entertainment has outdone themselves with their new animated movie. The opening credits of the movie show the four Minions, with their pipes, opening the movie to the audience. Debruge feels, "you wouldn't necessarily know that the massively entertaining jukebox musical that follows hails from the same studio that brought you Despicable Me and The Secret Life of Pets."

Explaining the plotline, he shares that the story revolved around an underdog koala who organises a singing competition as a last attempt to save his theatre. "Sing could just as easily be the work of Pixar, DreamWorks, or Walt Disney Animation Studios. (To wit, more than a few savvy parents will probably pass this off as the Zootopia sequel their kids have been wanting.) But for Illumination Entertainment, 'Sing' is a game-changer, underscoring why company founder Chris Meledandri is the hottest name in animation today."

Giving the film an impressive three-star rating, The Guardian's film critic Jordan Hoffman feels that the Sing has a perfect blended of simple humour, heart, cuteness, chase sequences, fart jokes and catchy tunes. He writes that the American Idol meets Zootopia is a home run and the movie is structured like a jukebox musical.

He shares, "A scene in which the theatre floods with water is truly enthralling and the funniest bit in the whole movie – when the koala bear and his sheep pal decide to turn their bodies into a car wash – is hilarious. Its unfortunate there's so little of this and so much of hearing these actors (Scarlett Johansson and John C Reilly are also in the cast) belt out 18-second clips of Katy Perry, Sam Smith or Kanye West tunes."

Film critic Edward Douglas, from the New York Daily News, feels that while the movie has so many moments to laugh at, there's also plenty of warmth and a lot of focus put on each contestant's family. "Buster's attempt to impress a wealthy possible benefactor for the show ends up being the theatre's undoing, but as they say, the show must go on, and it's in that last act where 'Sing' fully finds its voice," he shares.