Pitch Perfect 2 (2015)

The original Pitch Perfect was an unexpected success. The expectations in advance weren’t really high, whih is why it managed to surprise many people, including myself. I loved it. The story about an a capella group, the Bellas, who had to form a team to win hit all the right notes (no pun intended).

This wasn’t only because the music choices were great and performed weel, but also because of the cast. Anna Kendrick carried the story, but the weird supporting characters were memorable. Rebel Wilson shined in her role as Fat Amy and Hana Mae Lee was very funny as the almost silent Lilly. Add to that the politically incorrect comments from Gail (Elizabeth Banks) and John (John Michael Higgins) as commentators at the various competitions and the result was a surprising, almost (pitch) perfect combination of these elements. That surprise isn’t there now and the expectations are high. Does this second movie manage to meet them?

The story of this sequel mostly mirrors the original. After an embarrassing event during a very important performance the group of singers has to come together again and prove they still are at the top of their game. They have to do so at the world championships, which have been dominated by the German group Das Sound Machine for years. They are the main “villain” they will have to beat.

The film also contains various subplots. A new Bella is added to the group in the form of Emily (Hailee Steinfeld) who has some trouble fitting in, Fat Amy has to deal with her feelings about Bumper (Adam DeVine) and Beca tries to focus on her internship at a record label in order to secure a career as a producer.

The problem with all these subplots is that they are not well enough executed, often too short and because of that seem to be separate from the rest of the movie. They don’t seem to fit in naturally, making you not feel much about them. The movie tries to tell too much story in too little time which results in something that feels unbalanced. The musical numbers have been produced well, but don’t seem to excite as much as the originals did. Personally I only thought that Das Sound Machine was refreshing and I actually was rooting for them instead of the Bellas. Because the story is so similar to the original it means that there aren’t much surprises. As an example there is a battle not unlike the one in the pool in the first movie where you already know in advance which of the groups will be knocked out of the competition.

The result is a film which doesn’t wow and offers more of the same. For many people who might be exactly what they want out of this movie, but because of that it feels like a disappointing sequel. Despite that fact it still has a lot of entertaining and funny moments to warrant seeing it as long as you don’t expect something completely fresh.