After a world championship win in the previous film, the third installment of the Pitch Perfect franchise finds the Bellas lost in the pangs of post-graduation depression. They work various unappealing jobs, from food truck to Veterinarian’s office, while Beca (Anna Kendrick) and Fat Amy (Rebel Wilson) stay the closest to singing. The former soon quits her job as a junior producer a record label and the latter struggles with her one woman street show "Fat Amy Winehouse". So when Aubrey (Anna Camp) tells the girls about an opportunity to play on a USO tour around the Mediterranean, they seize the occasion to reunite one last time...
Warning 1: Anyone who’s seen 'Sex and the City 2' might get a tingling sensation of déjà-vu here, seeing familiar characters in an exotic location meet attractive men and do a bunch of outlandish things for no apparent reason.
Warning 2: Anyone who’s seen any instalment of 'The Hangover' franchise may also suffer from déjà-vu as the opening sequence showcases the Bellas singing Britney to a bunch of thugs on a yacht off the French Riviera, until Fat Amy attacks said thugs and burns down the yacht. We then skip to 3 weeks earlier…
On the plus side, in spite of having completely forgotten 'Pitch Perfect' and not having seen its sequel at all, I was able to catch up and follow 'Pitch Perfect 3' from the get go. Another plus was seeing the 12 year old girls who had been watching it as well step out of the movie theatre with delighted grins and joyful energy. Their parents were grinning too, by the way.
Warning 1: Anyone who’s seen 'Sex and the City 2' might get a tingling sensation of déjà-vu here, seeing familiar characters in an exotic location meet attractive men and do a bunch of outlandish things for no apparent reason.
Warning 2: Anyone who’s seen any instalment of 'The Hangover' franchise may also suffer from déjà-vu as the opening sequence showcases the Bellas singing Britney to a bunch of thugs on a yacht off the French Riviera, until Fat Amy attacks said thugs and burns down the yacht. We then skip to 3 weeks earlier…
On the plus side, in spite of having completely forgotten 'Pitch Perfect' and not having seen its sequel at all, I was able to catch up and follow 'Pitch Perfect 3' from the get go. Another plus was seeing the 12 year old girls who had been watching it as well step out of the movie theatre with delighted grins and joyful energy. Their parents were grinning too, by the way.
Joyful is exactly what best describes the musical numbers in the film. Whether they were performed by the Bellas or their rivals in a weird USO tour contest at the end of which the winning band would open for DJ Khaled, the numbers were all very well sung and always staged in a way that was a lot of fun.
But let’s go back a bit: thanks to Aubrey’s dad being a big shot in the military, the a cappella group begins their USO tour...to find out there’s a contest? Does this exist? I didn’t fact check, so maybe the USO has such a contest. Heck, with the current POTUS being a former reality TV contest and pageant judge, the US military might have started its own X Factor. Fine, we’ll accept this. If Aubrey’s father helped her get the gig though, it’s hard to believe he’s never heard her sing. As a high ranking officer, would he really push an unskilled group forward? Again, if we base our reality for the film in POTUS 45 America and we have seen Betsy Devos’ congressional hearing, we might accept this too.
But Aubrey’s daddy issues becoming one of the subplots makes very little sense. And it loads the story with unnecessary cheese, especially because daddy issues are already a prominent part of the story. The yacht showcased in the opening sequence belongs to Fat Amy’s crooked Australian father (John Lithgow) who randomly shows up, pretends to want to make amends with his beloved daughter, but later shows his true colours.
But let’s go back a bit: thanks to Aubrey’s dad being a big shot in the military, the a cappella group begins their USO tour...to find out there’s a contest? Does this exist? I didn’t fact check, so maybe the USO has such a contest. Heck, with the current POTUS being a former reality TV contest and pageant judge, the US military might have started its own X Factor. Fine, we’ll accept this. If Aubrey’s father helped her get the gig though, it’s hard to believe he’s never heard her sing. As a high ranking officer, would he really push an unskilled group forward? Again, if we base our reality for the film in POTUS 45 America and we have seen Betsy Devos’ congressional hearing, we might accept this too.
But Aubrey’s daddy issues becoming one of the subplots makes very little sense. And it loads the story with unnecessary cheese, especially because daddy issues are already a prominent part of the story. The yacht showcased in the opening sequence belongs to Fat Amy’s crooked Australian father (John Lithgow) who randomly shows up, pretends to want to make amends with his beloved daughter, but later shows his true colours.
Added to this daddy issues duet, we also have a trio of underdeveloped romance stories: Chloe (Brittany Snow) getting together with Chicago their US military guide (Matt Lanter) after a series of mildly embarrassing exchanges, Lilly (Hana Mae Lee) falling into an offbeat bond with an equally eccentric musician, and Theo (Guy Burnet), DJ Khaled’s right hand man, falling for Beca though it’s never fully delved into but given his longing gazes, one can only assume it’s not all just for her talent. Between the contest, the romances, the daddies and the girls respective futures also a theme, there seems to be too much going on already. And then it all turns action thriller with a group kidnapping that definitely snatched my suspension of disbelief away for good. Explosions and side romances can be fun, but do not a strong comedy make.
Instead of packing the script with so many things and all much to superficially, the film might have benefitted with more focus and depth (yes, it’s a light comedy, but light comedies need depth too). For example, Emily (Hailee Steinfeld) aka Bella’s latest addition, is a songwriter. Yet except for a few platitudes, nothing is made of this. If DJ Khaled is to sign Beca as a rising star and if the Bellas are to clearly surpass their opponents, didn’t the finale scream for a Golden Globe worthy original song instead of a George Michael cover? And wasn’t there more to show about Aubrey’s hidden fear or singing and the place it had with each and everyone of them? And how on earth can they do all those numbers with absolutely no notice and no rehearsals to show for it? Maybe a rehearsal would have been a better moment to break the news of Chloe getting into Vet school, instead of wrapping up everyone’s story rushedly at the very end.
Instead of packing the script with so many things and all much to superficially, the film might have benefitted with more focus and depth (yes, it’s a light comedy, but light comedies need depth too). For example, Emily (Hailee Steinfeld) aka Bella’s latest addition, is a songwriter. Yet except for a few platitudes, nothing is made of this. If DJ Khaled is to sign Beca as a rising star and if the Bellas are to clearly surpass their opponents, didn’t the finale scream for a Golden Globe worthy original song instead of a George Michael cover? And wasn’t there more to show about Aubrey’s hidden fear or singing and the place it had with each and everyone of them? And how on earth can they do all those numbers with absolutely no notice and no rehearsals to show for it? Maybe a rehearsal would have been a better moment to break the news of Chloe getting into Vet school, instead of wrapping up everyone’s story rushedly at the very end.
The film leaves us with everything ending well, yet no real sense of victory, because the journey was never fully shared, making the film a series of gags and gigs as opposed to a relatable and engrossing Hollywood comedy.
Review by Sophie Martin.
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