Jennings, Garth

The amateur ensemble is back, this time in animal Las Vegas.There was a karaoke charm to the first “Sing,” a cartoon about a parade of amateurs — Ash the porcupine (Scarlett Johansson), Rosita the sow (Reese Witherspoon), Meena the elephant (Tori Kelly) and Johnny the gorilla (Taron Egerton) — who put on a show to save their small town’s bankrupt theater. No more.“Sing 2,” a grasping sequel by the returning director, Garth Jennings, opens with the troupe attempting to impress a talent scout with the kind of ramshackle ditty that won over fans in the original. But when the scout (Chelsea Peretti) sniffs that a fluffle of bunnies wailing “Let’s Go Crazy” on electric guitars is merely a “cute little show,” an offended Buster (the theater owner, played by Matthew McConaughey) and company set out to conquer Redshore City, the animal world’s Las Vegas. (One senses that Illumination, the studio behind the franchise, is itself increasingly dissatisfied that the only little gold men on its shelves are the billion-dollar Minions.)The sequel is all glitz and no heart. With cash from a media mogul, Jimmy Crystal (Bobby Cannavale), and with a Suge Knight-esque wolf who threatens his underlings with defenestration, Buster stages a mega-musical spectacular that crossbreeds Cirque du Soleil with the old Pigs in Space sketch on “The Muppet Show.”There’s also a scattered plot that involves zip lines, snooty choreographers, disgruntled construction workers and an egomaniacal yak. At least the cover songs still have pep. A gorilla belts Coldplay, a slug raps Drake, and, in what passes for the emotional climax, Bono croons one of his own classics in character as a reclusive rock star lion who, in this parallel universe, wrote one of U2’s greatest hits.Sing 2Rated PG, for those afraid of the big bad wolf. Running time: 1 hour 52 minutes. In theaters. More