They’re back, pitches!!!
Directed by: Elizabeth Banks
Written by: Kay Cannon, Mickey Rapkin
Cast: Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson, Hailee Steinfeld
It’s been three years since the events of Pitch Perfect. The Barton Bellas are three-time a capella champions and are performing for the President’s birthday celebration. Unfortunately, Fat Amy (Wilson) forgets her underpants, and a world-wide scandal ensues when her pants split and she flashes everybody…everywhere.
As a result of the disgrace, the Bellas are not allowed to recruit anyone new this year, nor are they allowed to perform at any of the events they were booked for. This greatly upsets Chloe (Brittany Snow), as she has delayed graduating from college for three years because being a part of the Bellas is her entire life. However, they make a deal – if they can win an international a capella competition, they can redeem themselves and clear their name. This is quite a monumental task, as no American team has won this competition before. To make things worse, also competing is a German group called Das Sound Machine, who are very intense and intimidating.
Getting a head start on her life after college is Beca (Kendrick), who has an internship at a record producing company. Her boss (Keegan-Michael Key) is working on producing a Christmas album for Snoop Dogg (who appears as himself) and Beca has some interesting contributions. Beca keeps her internship a secret from the other Bellas, as she doesn’t want to appear that she isn’t committed to winning the international competition.
Most of the original cast is back for the sequel, including John (John Michael Higgins) and Gail (Elizabeth Banks) and their colorful, inappropriate commentary. Of course there is a riff-off, masterminded by the greatest a capella fan ever (David Cross), which includes the Bellas, Das Sound Machine, the Treblemakers (including Jesse (Skylar Astin) and Benji (Ben Platt) from the original), the Tone Hangers (which includes Bumper (Adam DeVine) who now works security for Barton) and several Green Bay Packers (yes, it really was them).
New to the group is Emily (Steinfeld), whose mother Katherine (Katey Sagal ) was a Bella in the ’80s. Since she is a legacy, the Bellas use this loophole to bring her into their flock. At first she was super enthusiastic, but after a while she just got on my nerves. The girls called her Legacy. I was thinking of her in my head as New Beca. She kept wanting to try new things and even screwed up a performance…just like Beca in the original.
I must be really out of touch with today’s music, because a lot of the songs that were performed were not familiar to me at all. There was a song about a lollipop, and then there was another song that I had no idea about. The songs that I did recognize, however, were performed fantastically, especially the ending numbers.
If you liked Pitch Perfect you will enjoy Pitch Perfect 2. With another set of fierce musical numbers, witty dialogue, and the always-outrageous Fat Amy, Pitch Perfect 2 is an acca-worthy sequel to the original.
