Movie Review: Pitch Perfect 3

Pitch Perfect 3 ** / *****

Directed by: Trish Sie.

Written by: Kay Cannon and Mike White based on the book by Mickey Rapkin.

Starring: Anna Kendrick (Beca), Rebel Wilson (Fat Amy), Brittany Snow (Chloe), Anna Camp (Aubrey), Hailee Steinfeld (Emily), Ester Dean (Cynthia Rose), Hana Mae Lee (Lilly), Kelley Jakle (Jessica), Shelley Regner (Ashley), Chrissie Fit (Flo), Elizabeth Banks (Gail), John Michael Higgins (John), John Lithgow (Fergus), Matt Lanter (Chicago), Guy Burnet (Theo), Alexis Knapp (Stacie), DJ Khaled (DJ Khaled), Troy Ian Hall (Zeke), Jessica Chaffin (Evan), Moises Arias (Pimp-Lo), Derek Mehn (Sunburst), Ruby Rose (Calamity), Andy Allo (Serenity), Venzella Joy (Charity), Hannah Fairlight (Veracity).

 

Pitch Perfect 3 is not a very good movie. That probably isn’t too surprising – I didn’t think the first two Pitch Perfect movies weren’t very good either. But Pitch Perfect 3 is a kind of a fascinating example of what happens when a franchise is still popular – so money can still be made from it – but they don’t really have any story left to tell. All the main characters have aged out of University – therefore, they have no reason to still be hanging out together, and certainly no reason to still be doing their acapella singing together. They do have a little fun coming up with an excuse as to why they still do – a USO tour for one last hurrah. The film pretty much decides to play almost as a greatest hits collection – it delivers the same type of scenes (like the riff-off) and brings back all the popular characters (including John Michael Higgins and Elizabeth Banks as the clueless media members), a show that goes poorly, then shows that go well, etc. But that only takes up so much time, so the movie adds an odd subplot – about Fat Amy’s dad (John Lithgow, who does the kind of Aussie accent you expect someone to do when they didn’t know they supposed to do one until the first day of shooting) – being a gangster. This gives an excuse for some action scenes – and pads out the plot.

 

To be fair, the makers of Pitch Perfect 3 know what fans of the series want, and do their best to deliver that. And to be even more fair, it’s still true that star Anna Kendrick is still an utter delight to watch, Rebel Wilson is still capable of delivering some laughs (a few in the aren’t fat people funny when they fall down vein that left a bad taste in my mouth in Pitch Perfect 2 – but not quite as many), and the rest of the cast have some moments that can be fun (my favorite moment came when the two girls in the group who never ever talks about get mentioned). The acapella performances lack the kind of fun spark of the unexpected they had the first time around, but they’re still fun – and the riff off is, of course, a highlight.

 

It does kind of seem to me though that Pitch Perfect 3 was made more as a background movie than something you actually engage with though. It’s something to throw on Netflix when you’re folding laundry, or doing your taxes, where you can look up during the musical moments, and then ignore it for the rest of the time. Everyone involved is going through the motions – and while that can be fun for a while, it doesn’t really add up to much of a movie. The series is over now – and that’s for the best. There was no more blood in this stone.