Meh.

That was my first reaction after I saw the theatrical trailer for Pitch Perfect 2.  While I am a big, big, big fan of the first movie (it’s on rotation as one of my go-to movies whenever I’m bored or waiting for somebody), the trailer looked to forced that I was left questioning if a sequel really needed to exist.

But curiosity and my love for the first film’s soundtrack eventually won and I found myself buying a ticket for Elizabeth Banks’ directorial debut.

Here’s the round-up:

Please note that there may be spoilers.  Read at your own risk.

THE STORY:

Having won three National Collegiate A Cappella Championships, the Barden Bellas are the toast of Barden University – they even get their own sorrority house – and Chloe (Brittany Snow – Hairspray), who intentionally flunked the last three years so she could stay on as co-leader, couldn’t be happier.

Things of course take a turn for the worst when, during a performance for the President’s birthday, Fat Amy (Rebel Wilson – Bridesmaids) has a wardrobe malfunction that not only earns the Bellas a ton of bashers, it also gets them banned from competing and defending their title.  When the school board threatens to shut down the Barden Bellas for their national disgrace, Beca (Anna Kendrick – <The Last 5 Years😉 makes a deal that if they win the World’s A Cappella competition, the Barden Bellas’ slate would be wiped clean.

This is of course easier said than done, as no American team has ever won.  Not to mention their biggest competition, Das Sound Machine, a German a cappella machine headed by Kommissar (Birgitte Hjort Sorensen – Automata) and Flula Borg (Peter Kramer).  Becca, Chloe, Fat Amy, Stacie (Alexis Knapp – The Anomaly), newcomer Emily (Hailee Steinfeld – Begin Again) and the rest of the Bellas have their work cut out for them.

THE GOOD:

1. The cameos, dear merciful Lord, the cameos.  It’s a testament to the first movie’s power that anybody who’s anybody seemed to have begged for the chance to have a couple of seconds’ screen time in this movie.
   
2. The Treblemakers’ cover of Mika’s Lollipop.  Because I love Mika and was seriously surprised to hear one of his songs in a movie like this.  Although now I wonder what message they’re trying to get across with that particular song choice.  Hmm.
3. Flo Fuentes, the Guatemalan Bella.  Because she held her own quite nicely against Rebel Wilson.
4. Anna Kendrick’s voice.  Gaaaads. This is the third movie of hers I’ve seen this year and still I can not get enough of her voice.
   
5. The bone they threw to the Chloe/Becca shippers.  I like that the filmmakers took the time to troll through fanfiction sites and actually acknowledge the massive fanbase of Chloe/Becca shippers out there.

   

6. That Anna Kendrick’s boobs were covered most of the time.  At least they weren’t so distractingly there like in the first movie.
   

THE BAD:

1. Not enough of Jesse.  I get that this movie’s more about the Bellas’ transition to adulthood, but Jesse and the Trebles were sorely missed.
   
2. Flashlight, while a nice song, wasn’t that strong to be the backbone of the film’s soundtrack.  Hailee Steinfeld did a respectable job covering it and I definitely appreciate the filmmakers’ loyalty to Jessie J, I found the song lacking in emotional pull.
   
3. That they made real life a cappella performers cover just one song.  It seems like wasted potential to me because part of what made the first movie’s soundtrack so good and fun were the multiple numbers by other groups.  And Anyway You Want It, really?  Do we really need another Journey song cover?
4. The lousy job of trying to make Baton Rouge look like Copenhagen.  It’s like they gave up halfway through it.
5. The Benjie/Emily love arc.  That’s just a bit too weird for me.
   

THE UGLY:

1. The movie was a little bit all over the place.  Unfortunately Elizabeth Banks is not that strong of a director yet to handle a movie with multiple focal points.
2. The Thumper/Fat Amy romance.  I get that Fat Amy is one of the first film’s major selling points, but she’s not really that well developed character yet to have a solid story arc in the film.  I appreciate that they tried to basically just pattern her serenading Thumper with that of Becca’s efforts to win over Jesse in the first movie, but since neither her or Thumper are well rounded, three dimensional characters, it just fell flat.

   

All in all Pitch Perfect 2, while an enjoyable movie, was more of a miss than a hit.  Performances were strong for the most part and the numbers were mostly entertaining, but they lacked the fun factor of the first movie.  Personally I think it’s because the filmmakers tried to cram as much as they can in there, which didn’t really work to the film’s advantage.

THE VERDICT: 6.5/10

*All photos are lifted from Pitch Perfect 2‘s IMDB page.