PITCH PERFECT 2
DIRECTOR: Elizabeth Banks
CAST: Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson, Hailee Steinfeld, Elizabeth Banks, Britanny Snow, Katey Sagal, Skylar Astin, Adam DeVine
CLASSIFICATION: 10-12 PG L
RUNNING TIME: 115 minutes
RATING: ****
THIS US college-style humour comedy doesn’t stray too far from the formula of the first, but it works very well as sequels go. It is slickly edited, funny, a little poignant and you will be downloading that soundtrack as you leave the cinema.
Inverting the conceit of the first film, this one starts with the Barden Bellas at the height of fame and fortune and immediately drops them into a scandal that threatens to erase everything they have achieved.
This is a sorority sisters’ movie, so there’s lots of talk of solidarity as they try to figure out how to claw their way back to respectability. Also, the obligatory drinking parties, a new pledge from a legacy and pillow fights.
But the fun part remains the music and though there are riff-offs and performances, they are couched in slightly different visuals from the first film. The introduction of a professional German a capella group ups the ante on the quality of what the Bellas present and we get a nostalgic reminder that the ’90s remain a high point for hip hop.
A sub-plot of the Bellas’ increased reliance on gimmicks, costumes and props becomes a bit of a meta-textual message as does John Michael Higgins’ disparaging and misogynist comments as the a capella commentator.
The Bellas’ attempts to rediscover their harmony only start working once they return to basics (just as the film works best when concentrating on the relationships of the characters rather than whether they can do flips while singing). The entire film is also a positive comment on female empowerment because while their relationships to guys is important to them, this is not the be-all of their existence and the film passes the Bechdel Test. See, you can make a funny movie featuring girls making jokes not predicated on their ability to attract a boy.
Director Elizabeth Banks does a great job behind and in front of the camera, but this movie belongs to Fat Amy (Wilson). She gets the best lines and her closet relationship with Bumper (DeVine) affords the character an opportunity to do a bit of growing up emotionally. The eventual high point of their relationship is an oddball combination of weird and a twee rendition of We Belong which will appeal to Pitch Perfect fans but potentially freak out anyone who caught that sequence out of context. At the same time, all of the characters are faced with their realities changing because they have to decide what to do after graduation. Kendrick’s Beca is the first one to make a move as she gets an intern job at a music production studio. Here again, there is a bit of a meta moment when her music producer boss challenges her to be more original and not just rely on mashing up, albeit very capably, old hits.
The theme of moving on is foregrounded throughout the film and suitably tied up by the end. The Bellas find their harmony to deliver the goods at the end in a spine-tingling performance that will make you forgive all the scattered sub-plots and sappy sassy sisterhood scenes.
Considering the film is just so likeable, it is surprisingly sharp and subtly mocks its own music movie conventions even when some of the jokes in the latter half do step into cringe-worthy stereotype territory.
If you liked, Pitch Perfect, you will like this.
WIN! WIN WIN!
To celebrate the nationwide release of Pitch Perfect 2, Tonight is giving five lucky readers the chance to win a Pitch Perfect 2 hamper. Each hamper consists of a T-shirt, a selfie-stick, and a Pitch Perfect DVD. To stand a chance of winning, all you have to do is answer the following easy question:
Who plays Fat Amy in Pitch Perfect 2?