The sequel is rarely better than the original and this one…also isn’t better than the original. However, it is a strong sequel that actually has characters that didn’t revert completely back to their old ways. Pitch Perfect 2 wasn’t perfect at all, but it still hold up earning it the Decent Watch rating just shy of finding silver.
This film joins Beca (Anna Kendrick) and the Bellas from the first film in their senior year after multiple years of success but tragedy strikes in the way of a wardrobe malfunction. The Bellas are banished from the circuit and only by winning worlds, an event that no American team has ever won, can they redeem themselves and untarnish the proud Bella name.
Anna Kendrick is great again reprising her role as Beca. Her character was very unsure about having a boyfriend in the first film and I went into this one afraid Jesse (Skylar Astin) and Beca would be on again/off again throughout the film. That’s where this sequel demonstrates character growth and the two are a perfectly happy couple that never have any issues with each other in this film except for the severe lack of Skylar Astin. Where Beca hasn’t changed is her ability to trust her friends with her life details and her lack of trust pushes for a lot of this film’s conflict.
The sequel always ads names with the biggest addition being the legacy member of The Bellas, Emily (Hailee Steinfeld) who is being set up to be the star for the pending third film. The best addition to the comedy of the film is Keegan-Michael Key who plays Beca’s boss at her internship. Every time he is on screen he is comedic gold. The writing of the film lends itself to very believable characters with the exception of Fat Amy (Rebel Wilson) who clearly goes off script a few too many times and often ends up in the same jokes she was using in the first film.
The riff off moment from the first film was one of the best scenes and this film brings it in a bigger way with the help of David Cross’s character. The main musical rival of this film is Das Sound Machine who is in attendance as well as the Treblemakers, the Tone Hangers, and the surprise challenge of the Green Bay Packers. The scene has some great songs and some very comedic moments. Definitely one of the most memorable in the film.
I’ll admit rating this film was a bit challenging. I really like moments of it, but compared to the first film it’s just not as solid. A lot of the jokes are just building on the previous films and so the originality that the first film brought to the table isn’t there. If you liked the first film you’ll definitely enjoy this one, but likely won’t laugh as much in my opinion.
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