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Pitch Perfect 2 Movie Review

Pitch Perfect 2 is a 2015 musical comedy film directed by Elizabeth Banks and starring Anna Kendrick and introducing Hailee Steinfeld. It is a sequel to the 2012 musical hit and it is basically the same both in quality and storywise.

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“You are one of us,

you paid the registration fee.“

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The story is now about our girl group getting kicked out of cappela performance and they now need to win the World’s tournament in order to remain active in cappela business. This is literally the same as in the original. It is filled with predictable scene after scene and the outcome and overall storyline is awfully cliched.

However, I found the story a bit more entertaining this time around and not as obnoxiously cliched as in the first flick. But on the other hand, the love story is missed here and the movie just ditches the relationship aspect almost entirely, except in the case of Fat Amy and that subplot is one of the highlights. Overall, you do not come for the story, but for the music and humor and if you, like me, mind the story, you will be sorely disappointed just like I was.
The characters are a bit better developed here and the chemistry between the group is more emphasized which is great, but those characters are still stereotypes as in the original Pitch Perfect. I really liked newly introduced Emily – she is sweet and really likable. And I like how she mattered in this story, with her song being in their last performance in the end. That was a nice touch.

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As for the rest of the characters, I missed the guys, especially Jesse and the rest of the girl group is still filled with ethnic stereotypes which was really unfortunate. But Fat Amy is once again the highlight and her relationship with Bumper provides a lot of laughs. And the protagonist is also really likable and she is very funny at times as well. As for the Germans, they are typical as these over-the-top competitors.

Speaking of humor, it is very good and it is the reason to see this movie in my opinion. It is not always funny, but when it is, it’s hilarious with highlights being Fat Amy and once again Elizabeth Banks. She was simply hilarious, along with her partner and their commentary made me laugh many times.

But I also liked Beca, especially with the Germans when she was just hilarious with her innocent and confused behavior which is mostly due to a terrific performance from Anna Kendrick. All of the actors did a great job with their performances and the standouts are Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson and Elizabeth Banks.

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Speaking of Banks, she did an okay job as a director here, but nothing remarkable. The movie is still badly edited and very prolonged with too long running time. The humor is great, but the music is not as good as in the original with most of the songs being badly chosen and not as important to the story as in Pitch Perfect. It is overall, when comparing the two, quite on par with it. It has stronger humor, but weaker music and the story is just as cliched as before. The two are really on par. I like the acting and the cast has chemistry. The script is mediocre, but it is entertaining to watch. And the characters, while typical, are still sympathetic and mostly funny.

Pitch Perfect 2 is of the same quality level as its predecessor – it has weaker music and the story is just as predictable and cliched, but the characters, while stereotypical, are really likable and the humor is terrific and better than before with the highlights being Anna Kendrick and Rebel Wilson. It is once again nothing great, but it is still a well acted and above all fun flick.

My Rating – 3