In a year full of animated movies, there's been a lot of 3D material to feast ones eyes upon. Yet, here we are, with one final animated eye-popper to paint across our screens, as Sing is being presented in this typical format. Which has us asking that question you knew we were eventually going to bring up, "To 3D, or Not To 3D?"
Once again, it's time to cross over into the third dimension and get some perspective on how good the 3D is in Illumination's latest film effort. If you want to know what we thought about the movie, you'll have to go to our full review, which can be found here. With that in mind, let's dive into the 3D evaluation of Sing, and see if this film uses 3D to its fullest potential, or should have saved its money for singing lessons.
A singing competition might not seem like something you'd want to see in 3D, but if Glee can abuse the format, then Sing can redeem it with the same subject matter. With a very animated world behind the performances, as well as the action and character quirks that we see in the film's cast, a 3D presentation is a pretty good bet. It also happens to work rather well with the actual events of the film.
It's pretty hard for an animated movie to use 3D to its full advantage, as we've seen other CGI efforts fall short in their third dimensional exploits (particularly Before the Window). In the case of Sing, someone must have really wanted this to be something spectacular, because it shows the amount of care that was taken in certain areas of the picture. If Illumination Entertainment went out of their way to fill this film with 3D-friendly prat falls, then they surely remembered to plan out the 3D presentation to show them off.
If there's anywhere a film in 3D needs to impress, it's certainly in its "Before The Window" segment, in which objects appear to fly out at the audience. I'm happy to say that the 3D in Sing manages to use this effect to great results, and better yet, it does so without wearing on one's eyes. While you won't flinch at the items flying in the air, say a stack of flyers that accidentally go out the window, you'll actually see the assets flying out at you and into the environments on the screen.
While flying items are all well and good, a 3D film also needs to convey a proper sense of depth. Without it, the images can be seen as static, and static is definitely the antithesis of what Sing's 3D presentation engages in. In particular, events around the theater, as well as some novel camerawork that zooms around town or cars racing through traffic, are visually stunning.
There are a lot of beautiful and bright colors in Sing's overall palette. Unfortunately, they're dimmed by the 3D version of the film, but thankfully it's only a slight dimming effect. Your mileage may vary with this effect, as theaters don't always calibrate their projectors properly. Poor 3D lighting can lead to problems with the audience health factor, as dim images will strain the eyes. Thankfully, in the showing I was in, the picture only seemed slightly dimmer with the glasses on.
With a good sense of depth comes a pretty good amount of image blurring. Sing certainly doesn't break this tradition, as the blur involved with the film is both intense and subtle. The depths of the picture are all in these details, and the varying blends of blur effects involved certainly help the picture come alive in 3D detail.
There is a lot of fast moving action in Sing, and it can be a little much in the beginning. The fast zooming sequence that moves all across town in the first act might be a slight shock to your eyesight, but once your eyes have adjusted, you'll be able to follow the action with no problems. But even with that slight hitch, there's no significant strain or nausea involved with the viewing experience.
If you're a fan of 3D films, Sing manages to tick all of the boxes in its execution. While the Brightness could stand to be bumped up a bit, the film's presentation doesn't suffer from the slight dimming of the picture. Seeing Sing in 3D is a beautiful finale to a banner year of animated greatness, and it's well worth the ticket price.
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