'Pitch Perfect 2' - Movie Review

I saw the original "Pitch Perfect" quite recently, at the beginning of April of this year. I saw it under duress, and to my surprise I enjoyed it immensely. I had a pretty good idea of why I enjoyed it: seeing the sequel re-enforced those ideas, by failing to carry through on the things I enjoyed most.

It's three years later, and Becca (Anna Kendrick) and the Bellas are still going strong. So much so that they're doing a command performance for President Obama. If you've seen the trailer, you'll know (and those who haven't, relax - this happens before the title credits, much like the puking in the first movie) that Fat Amy has a spectacular, show-stopping wardrobe malfunction (a euphemism that's going strong more than a decade after the Janet Jackson performance that spawned the term, but I digress). This gets them barred from the ICCA, although Becca manages to get the promise that they'll be reinstated if they win the Worlds in a few months ... something no American group has ever achieved. And so our very thin plot is constructed. About the only thing of significance I've left out is the addition of a new Bella (others have changed, but that's not discussed) played by Hailee Steinfeld.

Under the direction of Elizabeth Banks (who also continues in the role of reporter and ICCA director) the movie has taken the small step to almost pure sketch comedy. Both the plot and character development are essentially non-existent as we're moved from sketch to sketch. While "Pitch Perfect" didn't have much of a plot, it did at least have one: Becca had to get from point A (friendless) to point B (friends), and we actually saw it happen between the songs. Here, it just doesn't matter. And, equally as bad, I didn't think the songs were nearly as good. Part of the problem was that some of them were meant to be bad, but even the ones that were meant to be good weren't as good as the previous movie.

With all that said, there are some very good jokes - and the inclusion of five (?) members of the Green Bay Packers, and a number of other hilarious cameos, was great. But I won't be replaying this one the way I did the previous one.

As a side note, I'm going to say something I've said before: previews ROCK. You get in free, you get to see the movie before everyone else, they give you free stuff (okay, it was only a small flashlight - yes, there's a connection to the movie) and there are NO ADS before the movie. How great is that?