Movie Review: Pitch Perfect 2

Photo taken by: Kim Ravia

Star Rating 3/5:    ★★★

I went to see the much-anticipated Pitch Perfect 2 tonight, directed by Elizabeth Banks and starring Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson, Hailee Steinfeld, Brittany Snow, Hana Mae Lee, Ester Dean, Alexis Knapp, Skylar Astin, Ben Platt, Adam Devine and Chrissie Fit. It is a comedy/music film, and for those who don't already know it is a sequel to the first Pitch Perfect film, released in 2012. In general Pitch Perfect 2 was an enjoyable and entertaining movie to watch, as there were quite a few highlights which kept people laughing the whole way through.

In Pitch Perfect 2 everyone's favourite acapella group is back! Three years after the original movie, most of the Barden Bellas; Beca Mitchell [Anna Kendrick], Fat Amy [Rebel Wilson], Chloe Beale [Brittany Snow], Cynthia Rose-Adams [Ester Dean], Stacie Conrad [Alexis Knapp], Lily Onakurama [Hana Mae Lee] and Flo Fuentes [Chrissie Fit] are now seniors at Barden University, with the exception of newcomer, Emily Junk-Hardon [Hailee Steinfeld], who is a freshman. 

After an embarrassing performance at the Lincoln Center the Barden Bellas decide to enter in the world acapella championships in Copenhagen, Denmark in an effort to redeem themselves. There's one problem however! No American team has ever won the competition, due to German acapella group, Das Sound Machine winning every year. In order to find their mojo again for the world championships the Barden Bellas have to reconnect, so that they can blow their competitors out of the water!

I loved the first Pitch Perfect film, and after seeing the trailer for the second film I will admit I did have high expectations for this one. While I did enjoy the movie, Pitch Perfect 2 was nowhere near as good as its predecessor, both music wise and in general, but then again most sequels usually aren't as good as the original film. 

It's a film about music, so I felt the music was used appropriately and it worked well. There was a great song selection from the acapella groups in the film, but considering the genre of the movie I kind of expected that. 

There were many highlights in the film, which kept me laughing through the whole movie. Our very own Rebel Wilson was as funny as always, with her comedic lines. It was interesting to see President and Michelle Obama in the film. Sorry to get a bit political, but when I saw that I did think where does he have time to do a cameo in Pitch Perfect 2? After the Barden Bellas incident at the beginning of the film I thought it was hilarious having real life talk show hosts, including Jimmy Kimmel, Rosie O'Donnel etc discussing it. It made the storyline seems more realistic.

I loved the addition of Hailee Steinfeld to the group. She added some more comedy to the film. I saw her in Begin Again. She seems very talented in both singing and acting, so I'm predicting she will be one to watch in the next few years. 

Overall I thought Pitch Perfect 2 was an enjoyable and entertaining movie, even though it's not as good as the first film. If you liked the first Pitch Perfect movie, then you'll probably like this one too!

Pitch Perfect 2 official trailer courtesy of: Universal Pictures UK

Have any of you seen Pitch Perfect 2 yet? Share your thoughts and opinions in the box below!