PITCH PERFECT 3

Director
Trish Sie
(STEP UP ALL IN)

Stars
Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson, Hailee Steinfeld, Brittany Snow, Anna Camp, Hana Mae Lee, John Lithgow and Ruby Rose

This third and final instalment of the PITCH PERFECT trilogy has been handed the largest budget (a whopping $65 million) of all three films after PITCH PERFECT 2 (a $29 million budget) grossed a total of $287 million at the worldwide box office, making it the highest-grossing music comedy film of all-time. In case you’re in need of a reminder, this movie’s predecessor, which was directed by star Elizabeth Banks, ended with the Bellas claiming the championship at the World Finals in Copenhagen. As PITCH PERFECT 3 begins, the Bellas are working ordinary jobs having gone their separate ways after their a cappella group came to its end. An opportunity to reunite arises when they enter a competition for the United Services Organisation (USO) tour, which will return them to a few countries throughout Europe. Standing in their way are a group who use instruments, led by Calamity (Ruby Rose), and Fat Amy’s (Rebel Wilson) estranged father (John Lithgow), who has other plans for his own personal reunion.

Most of that inflated budget has been unwisely invested into a sub-plot that is not only completely out of place and belongs to an entirely different genre of film, it also gatecrashes the Bellas’ reunion by taking centre stage. Introducing Fat Amy’s villainous father and his completely inconceivable mission was never going to work, regardless of how much screen time it would consume. Casting a non-Australian actor in the great John Lithgow (TV Series The Crown, BEATRIZ AT DINNER), who can evidently do just about everything except for an Aussie accent, is another bad misstep made by PITCH PERFECT 3. It actually hurt my ears listening to this horrible attempt at our difficult way of speaking! You have been warned.

Already far from perfection, the girl power that’s kept this franchise alive begins to turn rather sour in PITCH PERFECT 3. The novelties that the original film brought that remained reasonably enjoyable in its sequel really wear off here. Certain idiosyncrasies belonging to the various characters just don’t have the wit or the sharpness they once had. Some of the roles, such as commentators (who turn to documenting the Bellas journey) played by Elizabeth Banks and John Michael Higgins, feel as though they are there by obligation only. Even the performance sequences, which were reliably enjoyable in past films, don’t arouse the same pleasure third time round. Only the grounding presence of Anna Kendrick and the liveliness of Rebel Wilson prevents PITCH PERFECT 3 from being entirely rePITCHulous.

2 stars