Director Trish Sie
Genre Comedy | Music
Cast Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson, Brittany Snow, Anna Camp
Rating PG-13
Release Date December 22nd, 2017
“Following their win at the world championship, the now separated Bellas reunite for one last singing competition at an overseas USO tour, but face a group who uses both instruments and voices”
From director Trish Sie, Pitch Perfect 3 is the third film in the extremely popular film series about the never boring acapella group The Bellas. The films are based on the book Pitch Perfect: The Quest for Collegiate A Cappella Glory, written by Mickey Rapkin. Kay Cannon is credited for writing the screenplay for all three films but each entry had a different director with Jason Moore directing the first film and actress Elizabeth Banks stepping in to direct the sequel. Now, it's time for Step Up All In director Trish Sie to take a crack at the series. The cast includes Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson, Brittany Snow, Anna Camp, Hailee Steinfeld, Ester Dean, Hana Mae Lee, and Ruby Rose. Fun fact, successful songwriter Ester Dean made her acting debut in the original Pitch Perfect where she performed the well-known Rihanna song S&M, which she co-wrote.
Fat Amy and The Bellas make an enthusiastic return in Pitch Perfect 3, serving up a full helping of the music and humor fans have grown to love. This movie is really funny, plain and simple. Now granted, in order to appreciate this brand of humor you need to have enjoyed the first two films as they tend to go hand in hand with each other. Screenwriter Kay Cannon is seemingly reluctant to stray from the recipe that has worked for the films so far and I am okay with that. I feel like Cannon's biggest focus is playing to the strengths of the cast that she has at her disposal, and that is a very smart way to write a movie script. Cannon will also be making her directorial debut in 2018 with the R-rated comedy Blockers, starring Ike Barinholtz, Leslie Mann, and John Cena, so keep an eye out for that.
Elaborating on my previous point as far as playing to the strengths of the cast, each and every scene is full of energy and a ton of laughs. I really liked how this film kept all of the running jokes alive from the first film, and for me Fat Amy's character and the hilarious back and forth banter coming from Gail (Elizabeth Banks) and John (John Michael Higgins) basically makes the movie for me. A Pitch Perfect film wouldn’t be complete without an abundance of fun musical performances and "mash ups" and the third entry gladly satisfies that need. Pitch Perfect 3 has its fair share of corny elements and a few gags that may not hit home as well as others, but the bottom line is that the majority of what they try to do works and works very well.
As far as acting is concerned, Pitch Perfect started out and continues to be built around Rebel Wilson and her Fat Amy character. I will admit that when I first watched Pitch Perfect in theaters 5 years ago I was a bit thrown off by this character, I mean an overweight female actress mocking herself to this extent was just something I wasn’t used to. But as she developed her character I realized it was more about personal empowerment than it was about simply making fun of herself and I thought that was pretty cool. Aside from that little tidbit of insight, Fat Amy is absolutely hilarious and each and every film she seems to have an endless supply of one-liners.
The only thing better than the perfectly timed and very uncomfortable comments are her facial expressions and mannerisms, they are just spot on and I can't get enough of it. Apparently, Wilson has expressed interest in doing a Fat Amy spinoff project, which I feel would be very well received as long as the writing stays up to par. My 2nd favorite character who plays a small role is easily veteran actor John Michael Higgins, who has a very impressive 132 acting credits according to his IMDb filmography, as well as an Emmy nomination. Higgins returns as John, the smart-mouthed and extremely sexist "commentator" of sorts and he is hilarious once again. He is rejoined by partner-in-crime Elizabeth Banks and they continue to have amazing chemistry together. Regardless of how ridiculous his comments tend to be, he manages to get a ton of laughs out of the audience each and every time.
Pitch Perfect 3 is far from perfect (see what I did there?), but as far as comedies go it will have you laughing pretty much the entire time and that’s a win in my book. I have been a fan of the films from the beginning and although I was sad to find out that Workaholics star Adam DeVine wouldn't be reprising his role of Bumper, everything still came together pretty well. The conclusion of the film felt like sort of a sendoff and a conclusion to the franchise but I wouldn't rule out a sequel if it brings in enough money. Plus if Rebel Wilson can get a Fat Amy spinoff off the ground, that may be enough to satisfy our comedic needs. Pitch Perfect 3 is a relatively wholesome comedy most of the family should enjoy, so add some laughter to this stressful time of year and check this one out sooner than later. Recommended.
