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Amongst my particular age bracket, 2012’s Pitch Perfect was easily one of the most
popular films in years and perhaps the best received ‘teen’ film since Mean Girls in 2004. Anna Kendrick’s Cups became a viral sensation and the
film won most of its audience thanks to its many laughs and catchy songs.
Making a sequel to a comedy like Pitch
Perfect is risky and often all it dishes up is more of the same but usually
in a less appealing manner (Think The
Hangover Part II). Other times it pays off and we get a film as good if not
better than the first one (Think last year’s 22 Jump Street). Thankfully, Pitch
Perfect 2 mostly fits into the latter category.
First time director, Elizabeth Banks delivers solid work in
the role, directing the many musical numbers with aplomb – particularly the Car
Show number by DSM - and musically, the numbers
themselves are as good as the first films, if not a little less crowd-pleasing.
The sequel delivers many great laughs, particularly through Banks and John
Michael Higgins who return as acapella commentators and the first film’s
breakout star Rebel Wilson. However, some jokes feel fairly uncomfortably
offensive (for example: any line from Chrissie Fit’s Flo, whose character
begins and ends with ‘immigrant who can do backflips’), others fall flat (most
notably, Snoop Dogg’s cameo) and the good ones don’t seem quite as
uproarious as some from the first.
With regards to plot, its three years on from the first film
and the Barden Bellas crash back to the bottom of the acapella group ladder
after Fat Amy (Rebel Wilson) suffers a wardrobe malfunction in a performance in
front of the President. This accident gets them banned from competing on a
national level and so to get this ban revoked, they seek to win the World
Acapella Championships. This forms the main backbone of the film and more or
less follows the same trajectory as the first film.
Where Pitch Perfect 2 branches
out is everywhere else, where the group of girls are all facing graduation and
some are dealing with the uncertainty of their future better than others. Beca
(Anna Kendrick) is attempting to pursue her music producing dreams but faces
trouble along the way, Chloe (Brittany Snow) seems to be in denial about the
whole concept (after all she is a four-year senior) and Fat Amy is running from commitment when
her on-off lover Bumper (Adam DeVine) suggests they enter a real relationship.
Meanwhile, aspiring songwriter Emily (Hailee Steinfeld) joins the group,
seeking to gain the Bella experience her mother did. Screenwriter, Kay Cannon mostly succeeds with developing
these characters using these subplots, particularly with Becas which provides a
really great and natural progression for the character. As a result, Pitch Perfect 2 is far less formulaic
and more character driven than its predecessor, a welcome and pleasing
development.
The rest of the girls remain the one-dimensional stock
characters they were in the first film and perhaps have even less time than
they did in the first film, likely to make room for Wilson’s increased role as
well as Steinfeld’s character, which is a shame considering the talent amongst
them. Beca’s love interest, Jesse (Skylar Astin) and their former rivals, the
Treblemakers also have significantly reduced roles, allowing the awesome
European champions, Das Sound Machine to fill the screen, who contribute
several outstanding musical numbers to the film.
Overall, Pitch Perfect
2 is a blast from start to finish and is in many ways better than its predecessor
through its better development of characters and slightly less clichéd plot. Its
humour and musical numbers don’t hit quite as many highs as the first one, but
they are still good enough to guarantee a thoroughly enjoyable musical
experience. Finally, its just very refreshing to see a female-led and female-directed film promoting friendship and success from females in the mainstream film industry and being such a huge success!
★★★½
