Rated: M
Directed by: Trish Sie
Story by: Kay Cannon
Produced by: Paul Brooks, p.g.a, Max Handelman, p.g.a, Elizabeth Banks, p.g.a
Starring: Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson, Hailee Steinfeld, Brittany Snow, Anna Camp, Hana Mae Lee, Alexis Knapp with Jan Michael Higgins and Elizabeth Banks.
Firstly, I admit to being a Pitch Perfect novice. In fact, a novice to any musical – I really don’t get it and find the idea cheesy: go watch a film clip if that’s what you want.
But, I can be open-minded and am a sucker for a good joke. And thankfully, Pitch Perfect 3 had more going for it than sometimes out-of-sync, 20-something-year-olds, having their first life-crisis viewed through a soft-focus lens.
Producers Paul Brooks of Gold Circle and Max Handelman and Elizabeth Banks of Brownstone Production have returned after the huge success of the previous Pitch Perfect instalments which made more than $400 million at the global box office.
Writer Kay Cannon, who wrote the first two films of the series, has also joined the team, sharing screenplay credit with Mike White – this time bringing more music and action to the final reunion of the Bellas.
The story so far shows the girls post-graduation from Barden, embracing their new careers as personal trainers and vet nurses, producers of hip hop artists (where I admit the over-produced version Beca makes to improve a track called, Bend Over was worse than the supposed bad original: picking on the authentic, yo!) to the (speaking of authentic) Fat Amy Winehouse with Rebel Wilson still bringing it with those facial expressions and dead-pan delivery of the disgusting that’s funny cause she’s so cute.
But the girls don’t feel like they’re winning in life-after-college, so when they get an invite for a reunion of the Bellas, they can’t wait to get back on stage again.
And the singing is good. If the lip syncing was sometimes very bad.
Rudy Rose joins the cast in the attempt-to-be-cool villain and lead singer in a band called Evermoist, which competes against the Bellas in a USO tour that involves playing in front of army boys. Add country band Saddle Up and DJ Dragon Nuts and DJ Looney, the Bellas get their much needed competition, that really becomes more about signing a contract with DJ Khaled, AKA Bill – the simplified name, Billy kinda cracking me up with the script adding some odd-ball humour. As did Lilly (Hanna Mae Lee) with her truly random behaviour…
It wasn’t until Beca tells Theo (the music exec and key part of DJ Khaled’s crew, so a big deal regarding the competition) that he looks like a turtle, and then to face-off the awkward moment, that I really started to get into the film.
So, really, I think the idea is to have so many different characters with unique personalities, so the audience will identify with at least one?
But what they all have in common is they look like they’re having a good time.
This is a high-energy movie where some noise in the audience is all part of the experience.
The best and most believable performance had to come from competitor’s Saddle Up, also a band in real life and the DJs were pretty good (also real-life musicians – Trinidad James and DJ Looney). But jeez, I did not get into the Evermoist crew. But I guess that’s the point, being the villains and all. Still…
So anyway, the Bellas get back together and jet-set around the world in this USO tour, when suddenly Fat Amy’s long-lost Dad (John Lithgow) finds her in Europe (having been banned from the US for his criminal activities). And I have to admit, Lithgow pulls off a pretty decent Aussie accent.
So that adds a few twists to an otherwise musical about the usual friendship/finding love formula.
What can I say, a musical, yes, but with some good comedy and odd-ball random moments thrown in for the non-musical fan.
Pitch Perfect 3 was quickly forgotten but fun while it lasted.
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