Movie Reaction: Pitch Perfect 3

Formula: Pitch Perfect ^ The Hangover: Part 3

It's the start of the fourth quarter. The Golden State Warriors are up by 50 already, playing at home. They had a little resistance from the opponent in the first quarter. Otherwise, it's been a cake walk. They seemingly can't miss. The starters have barely played since halftime. Even the bench has had the chance to get all the touches they need. In a blowout this big, many of those in attendance have already gone home to beat the traffic. The only people left in the stands are the diehard fans and they want a show. So, coach Steve Kerr puts the starters back in. He doesn't give then any plays to run or sets to practice. He just tells them to have some fun and do what they do best.

That is Pitch Perfect 3 in a nutshell.

Pitch Perfect has never been a franchise that's taken itself too seriously. The first movie is fully aware of how ludicrous its characters and stakes are. I mean, the puke scene at the beginning is virtually a metaphor for purging the audience of any of its expectations. There's only enough grounding to make the story work in a vaguely traditional sense. The second movie employs that recent sequel trick of rubbing the audience's nose in their hope for more of the same exact same thing (22Jump Street is another great example of this). It doubles down on the jokes and the scope. By the third movie, everyone involved is fully aware that the only people still watching are the fans, and the fans couldn't care less about a movie that makes any sense. 

Instead of the traditional embarrassing performance at the beginning, P3 starts with a flash forward that prepares the audience for how far things are going to go (all I'll say is that there's an explosion). It then cuts back to a few weeks earlier. The film quickly undoes whatever story points it needs to from previous installments to bring back only the characters it needs. Pretty much all of the Bellas are out of college and hating life. After a failed reunion performance reminds them all how much they enjoy being together, Aubrey (Anna Camp) uses her father's military connections to book the Bellas for a USO tour. There's also some business about Fat Amy's (Rebel Wilson) father tracking her down that leads to some of the more bizarre moments in the film. Really, it's all an excuse to bring the gang back together and let them do a lot of a capella performances. They even use DJ Khaled to add a competition element to it.

Here's what's important: the performances are good, the movie is paced well, and the characters are all funny. Aubrey (Camp) is intense. Beca (Anna Kendrick) is kind of awkward. Chloe (Brittany Snow) is obsessed with being a Bella. Lilly (Hana Mae Lee) is still creepy. Rebel Wilson is playing to the back rows. Ashley and Jessica fill the background of shots and have maybe a line each. There's a bunch of excuses for Gail and John (Elizabeth Banks and John Michael Higgins) to add commentary. Hailee Steinfeld is back as the only person in the cast playing older than she actually is. In other words, everyone is doing exactly what you want and expect them to do. There are a few new characters played by people like Ruby Rose and Matt Lanter. They mostly stay out of the way, and I appreciate that. They know that it's not about them.

With a movie like this, the aim isn't to get a new audience. I'm not writing the reaction to convince anyone to become a fan. The most I'm doing is assuring fans that this one doesn't ruin things. Given that, I ask myself how someone who liked the first movies could not like this one. Here's what I've come up with. The guys are all gone, so if you liked the Treblemakers as a counter to the Bellas, you'll be missing Skylar Austin, Adam Devine, and Ben Platt. The film moves even further away from the plot actually mattering, so perhaps you'll hit a break point there. Honestly though, if you didn't already have a problem with the second movie because of that, then your threshold confuses me.

Pitch Perfect 3 is both what I expected and what I needed it to be: inconsequential and a good time.

Verdict (?): Strongly Recommend