'Sing 2' cheerfully serves up another round of animated karaoke for kids

Like the first movie five years ago, "Sing 2" mostly works on split levels, offering a jukebox assortment of popular songs that parents will recognize, and having cute animated animals belt them out to divert children. The result is a breezy exercise in karaoke for kids, where the soundtrack beats the movie and a lot of stars again lend their voices to the chorus.

The core players remain largely the same, with koala bear impresario Buster Moon (Matthew McConaughey, whose recent good career decisions include not singing or running for governor of Texas) betting on his ability to launch an elaborate stage show in Redshore City, which looks a whole lot like Las Vegas.

Unfortunately, the ruthless casino mogul (Bobby Cannavale) who runs the place insists that Buster land the participation of an aging rock-star lion (Bono), who has essentially become a hermit, as a condition of bankrolling the production, just one of the many hurdles that Buster and his pals encounter.