Movies in Review: "Pitch Perfect 2"

Pitch Perfect was a musical comedy hit, so it seems only fair to hit fans with a sequel...right!? I'm usually not a fan of sequels, but not in this case. This was a movie that made sense to have a follow-up. I was happy to see from the trailer that all characters were coming back to reprise their roles. I was only hoping that the story and music would be as entertaining as the first.

I have to give it to Elizabeth Banks as she co-starred and took the reigns in the director's chair, not a bad job at all. However I definitely think the first installment had more charm. This film missed the mark on a lot of its humor. Some of the new characters added, failed to improve the movie at all. "Flo", the Guatemalan addition to the Bella's was stale. I could hear crickets with 90% of the jokes she had in the movie...smh. I thought the new legacy Bella played by Hailee Steinfield, would have packed more of a punch, but she seemed to fall in the background.

However I did enjoy the addition of Keegan-Michael Keys as Becca's boss. He was hilarious and insane as he always is. His comedic nonsense was a breath of fresh air this movie needed. I was happy to see Elizabeth Banks and John  Michael Higgins reprise their roles a the a capella commentators. Their comedic improvisation is hard to beat. Das Sound Machine was also a great addition, although I wish their was a little more of the Treblemakers, who I thought had better performances in the first movie. An added plus, and the most important element, the singing was definitely on point. The singing was without a doubt Pitch Perfect. The last Bella performance left me floored...it was beautiful.

Although not as great as the first, still not at all a bad sequel. It was cute, fun, and entertaining. If you enjoyed the first one, I would recommend this one, however adjust your standards in comparison to the first...B