Pitch Perfect 2 has crushed it, in the words of star Rebel Wilson's Fat Amy. The 2012 debut, Pitch Perfect, was a real sleeper hit and ended up being the second biggest comedy-musical of all time, just behind the absolute classic, School of Rock. So, of course, they had to hit the right notes with the sequel, and they have. And have one-upped themselves with a huge ensemble cast and harnessing the qualities the original had.
The shining charm behind Pitch Perfect is the massive, yet diverse cast with some absolute starlets hidden inside. A couple of note would certainly be the newbies, Hailee Steinfeld as Emily (True Grit, Begin Again) and new rival Acapella group, Das Sound Machine, with YouTube star Flula Borg taking centre stage with other newcomer Birgitte Hjort Sørensen as the Kommissar. Beca (Kendrick) ends up getting a crush on Kommissar, probably not her real name, so most of her battle talk ends up complimenting the opposition instead. "Yeah well... Your sweat smells of cinnamon". Definitely a real showing of Anna Kendrick's ability to be adorable as anything, since they were apparently improv. Can she do no wrong?
Not only this, but the side characters get their own moments too. Even the "insignificant ones" Jessica and Ashley who at one point can't tell each other apart because they're so obscure. There's also a new addition in Guatemalan illegal immigrant, Flo. Her only purpose in the film is to spew out illegal immigrant jokes that miss the mark more than they hit it. Luckily, she's not featured too much.
That is one of the underlying problems of Pitch Perfect. The reliance on stereotypes for humour. With the sexist jokes made by John Michael Higgins as John and the constant rebuttal by Elizabeth Banks' character. There's also foreign people comments and lesbian ones but they're all better than the cheap use of vomit as a comedic device like in the first film. They did it twice. Twice.
The story is a lot more streamlined, mainly thanks to Elizabeth Banks' role as the director. She perfectly balances the heart and humour of the film to somehow make Pitch Perfect 2 more charming than the original. Some of it gets repetitive, but uses the best bits of Pitch Perfect. The return of the Riff-Off was without a doubt one of the highlights of the movie. Combining the return of a couple of the acapella groups from the first movie, and a couple of new faces including the Das Sound Machine. This even showed how much better the soundtrack was, with a whole host of different sounds and wide range of songs.
Kendrick's Beca once again proves her cute, quirkiness pays off in providing a foil for the outrageous other characters surrounding her. The rebel girl who just wants to make it in the music world makes for a lovable and relatable character. Fortunately, her bland af boyfriend doesn't appear much, so she gets to build more as a character. Hopefully, they're weening out the weaker characters before anymore sequels, and it can definitely be seen with this in particular.
But it also seems they're setting up Hailee Steinfeld as a potential successor to the Bellas throne. (She's just earned a record deal for her Pitch Perfect performance!) But she had far too much screen time for a newcomer, which could've been given to apparent departing character, Chloe (Brittany Snow). The potential behind a co-leadership with her and Kendrick's character would have been a sight to behold with their contrasting personalities, so it's a shame this never came to be.
Other than that, Pitch Perfect 2 is in line to be one of the comedies of the year. For fans of the original, this is a must-see with amazing soundtracks, non-stop laughs and a great story to match. For those lucky "Bhloe" shippers, they have a couple of scenes to look forward to. The ending makes it look like they're set up for making a few more, which wouldn't be a bad thing at all. Elizabeth Banks' first directorial debut has been very well received with her earning one of the biggest opening weeks for a debut director ever. Once again, proving the power of acapella. And the cute as hell Anna Kendrick. She has a lot of power too.
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