(The unfortunate member whose hair is set alight is butch-Bella Cynthia-Rose, played once again by the magnificent singer-songwriter Ester Dean. As the Bellas are bested and intimidated by them in a series of official and off-the-books throw-downs, the girls start to forget who they are and what makes them special, resulting in misguided stage experiments in light-up hula hoops and pyrotechnics that literally threaten to burn them up. Taking on the antagonist function, now that some of the girls are openly dating members of Barden College’s other star a cappella outfit The Treblemakers, is Teutonic supergroup Das Sound Machine, an arrogant bunch of “ Deutschbags” as Fat Amy terms them, led by the Kommissar (Dane Birgitte Hjort Sorensen from Borgen), a Valkyrie-like chanteuse, and her simpering if strapping second-in-command Pieter (YouTube-star Flula Borg). See more How Hollywood Harmonizes: A Cappella Appearances in Movies and TV But due to a new job interning at a record label run by a domineering boss ( Keegan-Michael Key, vivid in just a few scenes), Beca’s attention is divided, and like the others her confidence is eroded when she sees what they’re up against when they arrive at the world competition in Copenhagen. With Aubrey graduated and gone, chipper Chloe ( Brittany Snow) is now the group’s spokesperson and chief choreographer, with Beca in charge of arrangements. Another new face is that of Flo ( Chrissie Fit), a Central American transfer student who keeps dropping references to her horrifically impoverished childhood into the conversation. (The latter’s smoothly delivered misogyny - “Let’s hear it for the girls too ugly to be cheerleaders!” - and casual racism throughout is even funnier this go-round.)Īlthough the terms of the disciplinary action prohibit the Bellas from holding auditions, there’s nothing in the ruling that says they can’t take on “legacy” members like eager freshman Emily ( Hailee Steinfeld), whose mom ( Katey Sagal) was a legendary, five-octave-ranged member of the group back in the 1980s. That mishap gets the Bellas officially reprimanded by the overlords of competitive a cappella’s governing body, podcasting co-presidents Gail (Banks) and John ( John Michael Higgins). Here, four years on from the events of the first film, the humiliation is even greater when Fat Amy’s spandex outfit splits in the middle of a performance in front of President Obama and the first lady to reveal she’s gone commando, producing a widely reported-on scandal (“ Muffgate“). Pitch Perfect started by putting all-girl campus a cappella group the Barden Bellas on the back foot when their leader, Aubrey ( Anna Camp), blows chunks all over the audience at the climax of their national championship performance. The opening sequence finds history repeating itself with an onstage embarrassment. Read more ‘Pitch Perfect 2’ New Trailer: Watch the Barden Bellas Run the World But none of that will stop this from being a smash, likely to outstrip the $112 million-plus worldwide takings of its sleeper antecedent in every territory. That means some endearing elements from the first movie, like the romance between Beca ( Anna Kendrick) and her tenor boyfriend Jesse ( Skylar Astin), barely get a look-in, and the number of cameos from famous faces is beginning to approach Anchorman-like levels of overkill. With more characters in play in addition to the regulars, returning screenwriter Kay Cannon (a 30 Rock alumnus) and castmember-producer Elizabeth Banks(also making her directorial debut on the feature) have to scramble hard to keep all the component parts in harmony. However, it’s not like we don’t have notes. As the film’s Fat Amy ( Rebel Wilson) might say, they’ve crushed it. Reprising the kind of musical performances, campus high jinks, stinging humor and sassy sisterhood on display in its eminently likeable predecessor, Pitch Perfect 2 remixes the elements and comes up with something even slicker and sharper.
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