Going out on a low note - Pitch Perfect 3 (REVIEW)

I find the first Pitch Perfect was a film that I really warmed to after a couple viewings. It's sassy and fun with a wide cast of characters to play off of in a fun setting of collegiate acapella. However this is the third instalment and the Bellas aren't in class anymore and, almost like this film, find an excuse to come together to sing one more time.

I knew this was going to be a junk food movie. It'll be silly and a fun way to spend a few hours. I'm not entirely sure it succeeded in that. The jokes, mostly from Fat Amy, often fell flat from the sheer Fat Amy schtick of it all. The musical numbers lacked the stakes of the previous outings and just weren't as memorable or kinetic as those of the previous ones. This film tries to expand things with the inclusion of bands. During a “riff-off” the Bellas are easily out classed by bands with instruments and just puts another nail in the coffin of this franchise's existence like the film's own characters.

I really wanted to have a good time with this film. There were a few lines here and there that got a laugh out of me but for the most part it is a bit of a slog of characters going through the motions and having romances that have little spark and no real lessons being learned. The bonding that made the previous films fun is also absent. It just isn't a worth while time. Everyone got their pay checks and got to hang out and sing together one more time which I'm sure they were happy to do but it was in no service to a story that was in any real way engaging, sinking to a weird James Bond style ending that had no place being in this kind of film.

Going to big and lacking any real heart leaves this film singing a flat note. The group is having a fun time but those in the audience only experience the occasional chuckle. If you like the series you may want to see the capper to this trilogy. Everyone else can happily sing a different tune.

FINAL SCORE

D

A musical that sing mostly sour notes