#41 PITCH PERFECT 2

#41 PITCH PERFECT 2

Starring Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson, Hailee Steinfeld, Brittany Snow, Skylar Astin, Adam DeVine, Katey Sagal, Anna Camp, Alexis Knapp, Hana Mae Lee, John Michael Higgins and Elizabeth Banks.

Written by Kay Cannon and directed by Elizabeth Banks. 115 minutes Long.

A sequel and all that that implies of the superior 2012 original.

Couldn't be arsed to see this opening weekend and so opted to wait until its last weekend instead, just to be contrary.

This time round the girls of the Belles have to compete in the Worlds - a Capella tournament, after they're banned from competing or defending their Capella title following a disastrous performance at President Obama's birthday party that sees, 'Fat Amy', Rebel Wilson suffer a wardrobe malfunction that exposes her genitalia for the world to gawp at, it's pixelated for the sake of the film's 12a rating. After that it's the introduction of a new character, played by Hailee Steinfeld who's a Legacy, the Belles new rivals, the far superior Das Sound Machine - a Euro Cappella team - and then a series of singing sequences before the Belles seem to break up, briefly, before coming back together over a camping bonding session and reunite, better than before, just in time for the finale where they win the title and back their reputations.   

Liked the first one, it was fresh and funny and the cast was likeable. This time round everyone seems on autopilot and the plot seems ludicrously contrived. 

It was fine, just not as much fun as the original.

Some funny moments, mainly glimpsed in the trailer, and Elizabeth Banks and John Michael Higgins are always a hoot and that's about it really. With a $272 million worldwide take off of a 29 mill budget I suppose we'll get a sequel or three more before this particular vein of Hollywood gold is mined out then it'll be quietly taken around the back of the bike sheds and shot in the face and buried with the corpse of the Street Dance franchise.

6/10