“In what must be the oddest double feature pairing, and yet the most appropriately me, possible, I followed up Mad Max with Pitch Perfect 2 (after a quick froyo run). Odd, yes, but it did make for one of the best and most exciting movie days I’ve had in a while.
After the sleeper success of Pitch Perfect a few years ago, it’s no surprise they made a sequel. And knowing that it was in demand, nothing was held back, and it was aca-mazing. Mega bonus point for Elizabeth Banks stepping up to make her directorial debut with this one. I am very much in favor of supporting women in film and was more than happy to pay my 10 dollars for this.
Three years after the Barden Bellas win the national collegiate acapella championship, an unfortunate incident leaves them on the brink of being disbanded, and some admittedly flimsy reasons mean that the only way to save their group is to win the world championship. We don’t really care about the plot though, we care about the music and the humor. In other words, it’s the Mighty Ducks with acapella.
This has to be one of the most quotable comedies to be released in a while. So many snarky one liners delivered by a diverse cast of characters. I was discussing this with my movie buddy afterwards, but we realized that there isn’t just one brand of humor. Each character had their own style, all of which blended as well as their harmonies. Sarcasm doesn’t do it for you? Wait two seconds for some bathroom humor. Not your thing either? Don’t worry, there’ll be an off the wall nonsequeter shortly. Think about it. That set up actually mirrors real life since you likely don’t run with a clique of clones, but instead have more of a mix. They also gain points for the racial diversity in the group too, which also adds to the array of comedic styles and realism.
My screening was a Saturday night show in an area that was currently hopping with some community events, so the place was very packed and very alive. It was a lot of fun hearing the energy bouncing around the room, but the nonstop laughs were almost too much. I missed countless rapid fire follow up jokes because I couldn’t hear them over the laughter (particularly from the chick behind me who found every frame hilarious and had an exceptionally loud giggle).
Besides the impressive one liners, I love these movies for the music. The mashups are genius and filled with wonderful throwbacks. The obligatory rif off was the scene I was most excited for, and that didn’t disappoint. And their skillz were all top notch. I can be picky about what acapella I like (basically I don’t like it when I can hear the individual syllables being sung) and this was the good kind, where you can’t even tell that there are no instruments.
So the Bellas brought the party yet again. Sometimes it’s nice to just lose yourself in a silly movie for a night.
Pitch Perfect 2 – \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/”