REVIEW: Pitch Perfect 3

Howdy ladies and gents, and welcome to another review and today I’m bringing you my final review of the four films I saw yesterday in the form of Pitch Perfect 3! Now I was cautious yet curious to see this film when it was announced back in 2015 because 1) I LOVE the first film, it’s still one of the best surprises I’ve had in the cinema. And 2) Even though the second film was a mess, I was curious to see what would happen with Elizabeth Banks away from the camera as the director.

The plot can be summed up as the following: “After the highs of winning the World Championships, the Bellas find themselves split apart and discovering there aren’t job prospects for making music with your mouth. But when they get the chance to reunite for an overseas USO tour, this group of awesome nerds will come together to make some music, and some questionable decisions, one last time.“

I thought the film was fun, despite its many issues, I did think it was a solid film. What I liked was that this film found a nice way to bring the Bellas back together and we got to see them travel to new locations and get into some new situations in addition to the competition. It is an absurd adventure with some good character progression for certain individuals but also some silly stuff as well. The humour felt right too, while not all of it hits (especially when it comes to one character specifically which I’ll get to later on), I do feel like some of verbal jokes and timing of certain lines was on-point. The core issue of the film is Fat Amy’s subplot, at first, it’s a little interesting, but then it starts to take up too much screen time and by the end of the film I was so ready for it to end. Also with the new bands that the Bellas face, they have great introductions but weren’t used to the best degree. And even though this film isn’t exactly the best film to end this series on and cements the fact that there should have been just the first Pitch Perfect film, I did like the ending and the credits which were quite lovely and heartfelt.

The cast was all pretty good for the most part, though some stand out more than others. Let’s start with the Bellas, let’s start with Anna Kendrick who is still great as Beca Mitchell. Of all the girls she has the best development and interesting journey and Kendrick is still as beautiful and charming as ever. The same can’t be said for Rebel Wilson as Fat Amy, Wilson used to be hilarious as Amy in the first film, however beginning with the second film they made her comedic moments so ridiculous and stupid and while they partly gave her some depth and better verbal jokes, however, she became the focus of the film in the worst possible way and as the film went on she became more annoying and tedious. Brittany Snow still has that “it factor” as Chloe Beale, it is interesting to learn what she’s been up to since the last film, but also see her have these really funny lines and situations especially with Beca. Anna Camp is once again good as Aubrey Posen, and Hailee Steinfeld as Emily Junk has some interesting development but feels a little less important than the last film, but still has great chemistry with the other girls. Hana Mae Lee as Lilly Onakuramara has always been one of my favourite Bella and she has some my favourite moments in the film. Ester Dean is another one of my people as Cynthia-Rose Adams, she has some really fun scenes on and off the stage, and Chrissie Fit as Florencia “Flo” Fuentes has some solid moments in the film too.

As for the other cast members, John Michael Higgins and Elizabeth Banks as John Smith and Gail-Abernathy-McKadden-Feinberger are the same annoying commentors following the Bellas on their reunion and new journey, and while they can be very stupid and tedious, they have their moments to be hilarious, strange and insulting at the same time. John Lithgow as Fergus Hobart, the villain for the film started out well but got silly and boring by the end of the film. Guy Burnett was a nice addition to the film as Theo, DJ Khaled was really funny and felt like a super charismatic version of himself and finally Ruby Rose and Andy Allo of the band Evermoist were good but underused.

When it comes to the music I can gladly say that this film succeeds with flying colours, the best thing about the Pitch Perfect films have been the vocal performances of famous songs and this film’s selection is fabulous with a nice blend of recognisable and new music. While it doesn’t reach the heights of the original film, this film is WAY better than the second film with its song selection and the variety of forms in which they are performed from acappella to the use of singing with instruments. It is very creative, fun and so damn catchy.

In conclusion, Pitch Perfect 3 was a bit of mixed bag, but I still liked it. While the Fat Amy subplot almost knocks the film over a cliff, I do think that for the most part that the humour and especially the music safe this film and make it more enjoyable than the last film.

So have you seen Pitch Perfect 3 and if so what did you think of it? Leave your thoughts in the comments below and I’ll see ya in the next review, laters! 😀