New Movie Review-Pitch Perfect 2
Pitch Perfect 2 was perfectly bad. The curse of the sequel rang true for this anticipated summer movie. The plot is predictable and the writing caters to the needs of the fans without actually giving them what they asked for. Most of the jokes told by John Michael Higgins character are cringe worthy and incredibly insulting which leaves you feeling “aca-awkward”.
Despite the movies flaws it has two redeemable factors; Das Sound Machine and Rebel Wilson.
It’s not very often I’ll root for the ‘bad guy’ in a movie but in this one I was all for the German Champions. The mash-ups were edgy, catchy, and just all around awesome. The moments where Das Sound Machine and the Barden Bella’s interacted were some of the best scenes in the movie; a personal favorite being the first interaction between the two groups. Who knew calling someone ‘physically flawless’ was a comeback to an insult? Even better one, saying their sweat smells like cinnamon. Beca really needs to work on her insults.
The star of the movie was Rebel Wilson. Her scenes are classically funny and as her character Fat Amy says, she’s the most talented one there. Nothing against the other actresses acting chops as most of the dislike comes from bad writing and not the acting itself. Rebel’s very first scene sets the movie’s plot line in action by a humorous ‘disaster’ that occurs during a performance for the President of the United States. In this movie we get a few focus scenes of Fat Amy and her interaction with Bumper and Beca. While one is humorously heartbreaking, the other light fun bonding the real movie stealing scene is Fat Amy’s solo!
This film has quite the cast list including Katey Sigal, who plays a mother sending her daughter off to college with dreams of her joining the Barden Bella’s that she once was a part of.
A hilarious surprise in the this film is actor and comedian Keegan-Michael Key who plays Beca’s boss. He’s only in a hand full of scenes but each interaction he has with the character Dax is laugh out loud funny! His character is precisely what I imagine a music producer to be like; brutally honest and done with the hipsters.
Another great surprise is the Green Bay Packers who are competing against the Barden Bella’s, Das Sound Machine, The Treble Makers, and the Tone Hangers in an underground sing off. Hosted by bathrobe wearing and scooter riding, David Cross. Surprisingly their very good and manage to last to round two, only being eliminated because they couldn’t think of a country song to sing. Which saved us from having to listen to more than two country songs.
Even with it’s catching tunes and sometimes, well delivered, jokes this movie would not be my first pick for the evening. If you haven’t seen it in theaters yet, perhaps wait to rent it on Redbox and save yourself from the overpriced popcorn. As always, it comes down to what the viewer enjoys and predictable story lines and offensive jokes just don’t do it for me.