Pitch Perfect 2 continues the tone of the first film. It is a film that does not take its subject too seriously, and mainly uses it as a platform for launching into both absurdity and compelling female-centric drama. It has been three years since the events of the first film, and the Barten Bellas are the defending national champions. Their success has brought them to Lincoln Center, where they get to perform for the president. A genital-related mishap causes them and the school a great embarrassment, and the Bellas are soon banned from competing in any a cappella event in the USA. Their only chance for reinstatement is to win the world championships in Copenhagen, an event that no American team has ever won.
To win, they must defeat the formidable German team, Das Sound Machine. But there is also internal conflict and personal drama brewing amidst the Bellas. Becca (Anna Kendrick) is thinking about life beyond the group, and has secretly taken an internship at a music production studio. Chloe (Brittany Snow), on the other hand, seems to be doing everything she can to delay her graduation so she can stay with the group. New member Emily (Hailee Steinfeld) is struggling to find her place within the group as she learns that the Bellas aren’t exactly what she was told they would be.
It sounds like a lot of story, but it really isn’t. This isn’t so much a plot as it is a framework, the movie barely giving focus to these narrative elements. Instead, it just lingers in the strange world in which the characters exist, this bizarre subculture where everybody can sing, and a cappella showdowns can take place at any moment. The film embraces this absurdity, often taking deadpan detours in extended sequences that don’t really move the plot forward, but brings in more of the exuberant weirdness of this musical world.
And it’s all really funny. This sequel recycles some of the best sequences from the first film, but it takes them to another level. The sing-off from the first is brought to more delirious heights with a change of setting and the surprise appearance of a certain professional sports team. The requisite musical romantic gestures are subverted somewhat and given more of a comedic kick. Director Elizabeth Banks displays a real knack for visual comedy in this film, her camera often adding to the joke, rather than just capturing it.
The music is fine, though the recorded vocals don’t quite capture the real pleasures of a cappella singing. But the musical sequences are really fun to watch. The cast is solid all the way through. Anna Kendrick is always a joy, her comedic sensibilities always on point. Rebel Wilson, who was the breakout of the last film, continues to be a comedic force of nature. Hailee Steinfeld doesn’t always seem like the most natural fit in a comedy, but she has room to grow. The supporting cast does all sorts of fine work on the fringes, especially John Michael Higgins and Elizabeth Banks, who reprise their roles as a cappella commentators.
Pitch Perfect 2 is fizzy, infectious entertainment. It is as stacked with jokes as any other modern comedy, but it also more exuberant and more conscious of what it’s putting out into the world. The plot is a little perfunctory, but that’s all it really needed to be. It serves as a launching pad for a beautiful absurdity that actually turns into something substantial. There is something deeply subversive about this film, something that flies in the face of decades of mainstream comedy filmmaking. It doesn’t even need to say it. It just does it, and it’s great.
My Rating:
