Pitch Perfect 2: Review
A large dose of crude humour takes away from any of the film's more positive messages.
2012’s Pitch Perfect gave the world a classic underdog story with plenty of sass whilst somehow making A’Capella look cool. This year’s follow up tries to recapture the fun and laughs of the first film but it ends up trying a little too hard and missing the bar, banking too much on over-the-top crude humour with not a great deal of substance.
What’s Pitch Perfect 2 all about?
Three years after the events of the first film, the Barden Bellas A ’Capella group led by Beca (Anna Kendrick) are still at the top of the highly competitive and somehow highly televised vocals-only ladder. When an onstage wardrobe malfunction brings them into disgrace, the sisterhood of singers have to defeat a seemingly undefeatable German group in the World Championships to regain the public’s favour.
Most of the girls are also graduating from college and have to grapple with the unknown future and leaving the group that has been their life for the last few years.
The plot seems a bit confused with so many side plots that don’t really go anywhere and slow the film down. And whilst there are some highlights, including most of the songs, as well as a great supporting role performance by Keegan-Michael Key, Pitch Perfect 2 mostly treads over covered ground.
Like its predecessor, and basically any of the Rocky sequels, the film sets its heroines up as the underdogs and they inevitably have to “find their sound” in order to get back to winning ways.
Even though the film is rated M, I would advise younger viewers to avoid this one due to a large amount of fairly inappropriate sexual humour. For those who have seen or decide to go see it, Pitch Perfect 2 does give us a bit of a reflection of what it is like to live in God’s family.
A unique sisterhood
The Bellas are daunted by the fact that they will be graduating soon and leaving the security of their college singing group. They spend most of the film trying to ignore that fact, or simply to avoid graduating at all. What they eventually realise though is that no matter what the future holds, they will always have a unique bond to one another as the Barden Bellas and all the Bellas before and after them. Looking back at college they won’t remember the competitions. They’ll remember their shared sisterhood.
This is similar to our own lives as Christians. Life can seem pretty daunting and it’s often hard to trust in God’s plan for us. Whether it’s finishing high school and going to further study, getting a job or moving to a new city or country, or even moving to a new church, we can often stay idle in our comfort zones and groups and struggle to change. As those welcomed into God’s family, we can take solace and know that no matter where God leads us in our lives we are never without the love and prayers of our brothers and sisters in Christ.
The verdict
A pretty disappointing film that I wouldn’t advise seeing simply because of the amount of crude humour that doesn’t really serve any purpose other than to be "edgy". It has its entertaining moments and great opportunities to sing along with the harmonies, but overall it overreaches and misses the mark. 2.5 out of 5.
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