Pitch Perfect 2 (2015)

Film: Pitch Perfect 2 (2015)
Stars: Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson, Brittany Snow, Ester Dean, Skylar Astin, Flula Borg, Birgitte Hjort Sorensen, Elizabeth Banks, John Michael Higgins
Director: Elizabeth Banks
Oscar History: No nominations
Snap Judgment Ranking: 3/5 stars

Acc-hello!  I spent most of Sunday viewing entertainment (hitting a Netflix movie, two movies in theaters, and then two crazy episodes of some of my favorite shows on the air), so we've got quite a few new reviews out this week, but we'll start with the movie that you're most likely to have seen this past weekend: Pitch Perfect 2.  The film went colossal at the Box Office, scooping up an impressive $70 million domestically, becoming the first sequel since Austin Powers: The Spy who Shagged Me to out-earn its predecessor's entire run in the first weekend.  I'm hoping as a result that Anna Kendrick and Rebel Wilson were smart enough to ask for back-end cash.  However the question isn't just if it's popular, but if it's any good.  Shall we investigate?

(Spoilers Ahead) As you may recall, I quite liked the original film,  While the film was hardly high art, it was ridiculously fun, anchored by bravura work from Anna Kendrick and Rebel Wilson, and a totally crushable piece of boy-next-door from Skylar Astin.  Three years later, not much has changed and the girls we fell in-love with as freshmen are now back as seniors (never mind that almost all of the principle women are in their thirties or thereabouts, so playing 22 is a bit of a stretch).  The film follows how a wardrobe malfunction with Fat Amy (Wilson) results in them being banned from performing in the national tournament, and can only compete at the World Competition.  Throw in a German a capella supergroup to compete against (headed by YouTube DJ Flula Borg) and you've got yourself a sequel that looks an awful lot like the original.

This is probably where the film takes its hardest hits, but not in the way you're thinking.  The film is very much similar, almost to the point of earning comparisons to The Hangover franchise, to the original film, but there's enough territory here to mine that it actually doesn't feel awful.  The comedy is still relatively funny-you have the hilarious banter between John Michael Higgins and director Elizabeth Banks (who wouldn't want them to do an in-character DVD commentary...actually why is this not a thing, period?), the wonderful dork-a-tude of Kendrick and Astin, and the perfection that is Rebel Wilson, who can make literally any sentence funny with strong delivery.  Putting her with Adam DeVine's Bumper is wonderful, mostly because DeVine is one of the rare comic performers that can hope to keep up with her.  The music is all strong, and this familiarity, while potentially lethal if they wanted to make a third film, is still fresh enough in a second film to not feel tired.

The problem lies in the new elements, almost all of which fail.  Hailee Steinfeld, Oscar nominee, plays a fresh-faced Bella who has dreamed of her a capella future her entire life, but is trying WAY too hard.  She's got a fine enough voice, but when you compare her star charisma to that of Kendrick's or Wilson's it's not even comparable, and I feel like they could have found a stronger unknown to take this space, as it felt very similar to when Glee added new characters onto the show.  The same can be said for Chrissie Fit's Flo, who while admittedly funny at some points, wears a pretty thin welcome and borders onto the offensive on occasion.  David Cross, playing a bizarre Rip-Off host also falls flat.  Honestly, the only additions I found interesting were Keegan-Michael Key as Beca's boss, who has a hilarious series of interactions with Shawn Carter Peterson as his hapless hipster assistant and Flula Borg as the crazy-rapping leader of the arch-rival a capella group, who is so good I actually think he probably deserved to win the final showdown.  Also, Scott Hoying in Pentatonix is perfection, but he's onscreen for like twenty seconds and that's just because I'm in love with Scott Hoying.

All of this is to say that I liked this movie, but nowhere near as much as the original.  It has most of the spark and humor of the first film, but little of the shock and fails with the depth.  Therefore I'd recommend it, but only if you liked the original as there's nothing that's going to change your mind here.  At least those are my thoughts-how about yours?  What'd you think of this follow-up?  Are you all-ready for a Pitch Perfect 3?  Are you acc-excusing yourself from future installments?  Share your thoughts in the comments!