Pitch Perfect 2 has a hard time finding its quirky voice again

Universal Pictures

Every now and again, a film comes along that is so quirky it defies all of the odds stacked against it and becomes a bigger hit than it was ever intended to be as audiences fall in love with its fun personality. 2012’s Pitch Perfect was such a film. I remember being asked to review it, but I sadly declined because I had zero interest in it. A film about a glorified Glee Club full of geeks that sing popular radio hits a capella? It sounds painfully awkward, right? Not a day has gone by that I’ve regretted that decision. When I finally did watch it to see why everyone else loved it so much, I was instantly smitten too. In fact, this is largely the reason why I rarely turn down a review opportunity today. I’m always on the lookout for that next sleeper hit that captures my heart and imagination.

I was excited to review Universal Pictures’ Pitch Perfect 2. The Barden Bellas are back – Beca (Anna Kendrick), Fat Amy (Rebel Wilson), Chloe (Brittany Snow), Aubrey (Anna Camp), Cynthia Rose (Ester Dean), the uber-creepy Lilly (Hana Mae Lee) and company – their adorkable Treblemakers cohorts Jesse (Skylar Astin), Benji (Ben Platt) and Bumper (Adam DeVine), the hilariously past-their-prime Tone Hangers (Joe Lo Truglio, Reggie Watts, John Hodgman and Jason Jones) and more! Elizabeth Banks and John Michael Higgins reprise their roles as the inept, absurd, and often times, politically incorrect a capella commentators (as if the “sport” requires them). The sequel also features many memorable guest stars, including Katey Sagal, David Cross, Snoop Dogg, the Green Bay Packers, Jimmy Kimmel and all four of your favorite judges/mentors on The Voice in a special bonus scene during the end credits.

After the Bellas are publicly disgraced on national television by the accident-prone Fat Amy (who literally comes in like a wrecking ball), they find themselves unfairly dismissed from their national tour and all but stripped of their national collegiate a capella title. The only way they can redeem themselves in the world of a capella is by winning an international competition that no American team has ever won before, facing off against the formidable world champs from Germany, the aptly named Das Sound Machine. Pieter (Flula Borg) and Kommissar (Birgitte Hjort Sorensen) lead Das Sound Machine, which is a well-oiled singing unit that moves in perfect synchronization with impressive pyrotechnics. Das Sound Machine is oddly reminiscent of fellow German musicians Kraftwerk or perhaps even as the characters found in the old Sprockets Saturday Night Live skits featuring Mike Myers.

The sequel struggles to find its quirky voice again. tweet

While I liked Pitch Perfect 2, it falls into the “it didn’t quite measure up to the power of the first film” syndrome that often plagues Hollywood sequels. One thing that makes it weaker in comparison is the usage of so many subplots. While the first film focused primarily on college freshman Beca trying to fit in and help launch the Bellas to a national title, it feels like the sequel struggles to find its quirky voice again because it’s bogged down with too many unrelated – and at times unnecessary – storylines that make it feel like the Bellas are no longer a cohesive unit but a fragmented group trying to recapture their past glory. It feels like the film is also trying to recapture a past glory – a time when youth was captivated by popular television series about singing competitions such as American Idol and Glee, which also seem to be past their prime now.

The Bellas are given their first legacy member – Emily (Hailee Steinfeld), who is the freshman daughter of Katey Sagal, a Bella legend during her prime. Emily is more of an original songwriter than a cover artist, and at first she struggles to find her voice and fit in with her new “sisters.” This was too similar to Beca’s story last time. We’ve already seen that. What else have you got? Another subplot involves Beca attempting to make a meaningful impact during an internship at a local recording studio (which she also chooses to keep a secret from the rest of her Pitches for no apparent reason). Many of the hipster jokes at the studio felt a bit forced to me, and what should have been an exciting character development felt almost trivial. And why didn’t we get to see more of Beca and Jesse? Their love story in the first film was most of what kept my interest. This time around, Jesse felt like a prop who was only utilized by Beca a couple of times when she was feeling low. Such a shame. At least Benji gets a girl this time!

There are still many fun musical highlights, including Fat Amy serenading Bumper to the tune of Pat Benatar’s “We Belong,” a spirited montage of several international a capella groups singing perennial karaoke favorite “Any Way You Want It” from Journey and a befitting mash-up of several ‘90s hip-hop and R&B classics that had my inner mid-90s middle schooler excited, including Sisqo’s “The Thong Song,” Montell Jordan’s “This Is How We Do It,” Bell Biv Davoe’s “That Girl Is Poison,” Lauryn Hill’s “That Thing You Do,” Kris Kross’ “Jump” and Cypress Hill’s “Insane in the Membrane.” And of course no Pitch Perfect film would be complete without an original song – last time it was Anna Kendrick’s catchy rendition of “Cups.” This time it’s “Flashlight” performed by newcomer Steinfeld.

The musical highlights for me were seeing Das Sound Machine’s decidedly enthusiastic version of Fall Out Boy’s “Light ‘Em Up” and the Green Bay Packers’ spirited rendition of Destiny Child’s “Bootylicious.” That was pure movie-going magic, although it was maybe not quite as magical as seeing Benji perform B.o.B.’s “Magic” during the first film’s finale. All in all, I was happy to get reacquainted with the “they’re-so-dorky-they’re-actually-kinda-cool-in-an-endearing-way” characters from the original Pitch Perfect, but I felt the sequel could have been lighter and quirkier somehow. Maybe they’ll perfect it as a trilogy?