The Case for Pitch Imperfect

Last week, I saw the first Pitch Perfect.  It's a funny movie where Anna Kendrick and Rebel Wilson save a bunch of women and a capella enthusiasts from an otherwise bland, boring fate.



Pitch Perfect 2 is kind of more of the same.

Kendick and Wilson are back, but the heavy lifting is given all to Wilson, while Kendrick goes off and ignores her boyfriend and tries to break into the "real" music industry.

Overall then, it's not as funny as the first one.  And seemingly much longer.

Wilson almost pulls it off.  Every time she is on screen as Fat Amy saying something remarkably offensive yet also most times self deprecating, it's hard not to laugh.  Whether it is stealing the show in front of the President, hunting down men or keeping the other a capella Bellas on the level, she keeps things rolling in a way she did in a less official capacity in the first film.

So its really Kendrick who is the weaker link here, though its not really her fault.  Her character, Beca, has her own rather aca-independent story arc away from the Bellas, and while it takes digs at the recording industry and hipsters and features cameos from Snoop Dog and others, it is really out of context in this film and, as such, really dull.  Meanwhile, a retreat to a camp for the Bellas to find their mojo is definitely more in keeping with the sensibilities of the movie, but it just falls rather flat humour wise.  Similarly, an a capella showdown (much like in the first film) comes along inexplicably including German uber-nemesis a capella group Das Sound Machine, and while the singing is fine, it ends on a note (as it were) so incredibly lame (why bring an original song to a 90s mash up when none of your team will even know the song?) that it all left a sour taste in my mouth, despite some amazing performances and a cameo from a group of American Footballers. 

But the real bum note is the casting of Hailee Steinfeld as Emily, the "newbie" to the group, whose Mom (the always awesome Katey Sagal) was a legacy member (I was pretty sure the Barden Bellas was not a sorority or a college institution in the first movie, but then I might have missed that).  Steinfeld was amazing in True Grit, and can sing quite well, but her character was utterly boring and if she was meant to be funny, I might have missed that too.    

However, there are several gems that keep the movie sputtering along after an incredibly strong first 10 minutes.  Beca's infatuation with the lead singer of Das Sound Machine is hilarious (might be more my sense of humour there) and Fat Amy singing some Pat Benatar to woo back her man should be the grand finale for the movie.  

As it is though, the grand finale is a bit of an anti climax as I was more interested in the Canadian a capella group than the battle between Das Sound Machine and the Bellas (apparently this is a real group called Pentatonix!)



In the end then, even though I laughed quite a bit, I thought this film was much weaker than the first Pitch Perfect.  It was great that Rebel Wilson was promoted to top billing as she definitely is the funniest thing in the movie, but its just a shame the actual stories weren't as strong or cohesive as they could and should have been.

Verdict: Pitch Perfect 2 is a lot of laughs in amongst quite a lot more padding.  Story-wise, the film is abysmal, but there are enough jokes to keep almost everyone entertained.  Truth be told, my fellow movie goers who were more the target demographic loved the film a lot more than I did, so perhaps my review is a bit too harsh, but I am going to give this: 5 octaves.