Film Review: Pitch Perfect 2

Pitch Perfect 2. Rated M (sexual references). 115 minutes. Directed by Elizabeth Banks. Screenplay by Kay Cannon.

Verdict: A hugely entertaining sequel that lights up the big screen.

As surely as the sun will set, sequels to smash hit movies will eventually find their way onto our cinema screens. In the case of this sequel to Pitch Perfect (2012), it’s a welcome relief to discover that instead of trying, unsuccessfully, to reinvent what worked the first time around, Banks (making an assured feature-length directorial debut) and Cannon (Pitch Perfect, 30 Rock), play to all the first film’s undeniable strengths and deliver a sequel that is almost superior to its predecessor.

After a disastrous televised live performance in front of the President and First Lady of the United States, the Bellas are suspended from auditioning new members and from performing in the US. Facing the end of their dreams of a capella stardom, the girls discover a loophole in the terms of their suspension, which means that they can compete in the European titles in Copenhagen. The big challenge will be regaining the confidence to take on their nemesis, German supergroup Das Sound Machine.

One of the key aspects to the success of a sequel is ensuring that as many of the original cast members return to reprise their roles, a feat that Pitch Perfect 2 has achieved with great success. While the performances are effervescent, the standout is Cannon’s screenplay, which is the perfect fusion of musicality, personal drive and ambition, romance (although thankfully nothing too tense or complicated) and some fantastic laughs, of which Rebel Wilson (Fat Amy) and Adam DeVine (Bumper) get the majority share with which to have an absolute ball. Wilson (who clowns with the very best of them) canoeing across a huge lake to woo Bumper, is just one of the hilarious sequences that is guaranteed to have you laughing like you won’t have laughed in the cinema yet this year.

This review was commissioned by the West Australian Newspaper Group.

Film Review: Pitch Perfect

Pitch Perfect. Rated M (sexual references and coarse language). 112 minutes. Directed by Jason Moore. Screenplay by Kay Cannon. Based on the book by Mickey Rapkin.

Verdict: A harmless, uncomplicated, musically superior film about believing in your dreams.

There’s something about this shamelessly upbeat a cappella musical comedy that eventually becomes hard to resist. Musically at least, it’s in a class of its own – with an excellent score, performed with great style and flair by a talented young cast. What they lack in miming skills, they more than make up for with charismatic performances, creating a tightly-knit ensemble determined that we have a marvellously uncomplicated time of it all.

With dreams of going to Los Angeles to become a DJ, Beca (Anna Kendrick) first has to reluctantly obey her father’s wish by going to university. When she finds herself invited to join the university’s all-girls singing group (The Bellas), her skill as a DJ bring some much-needed revitalisation to the group’s repertoire as they take on the school’s all-boys a capella group in a series of competitions to decide who will be the a capella champions.

While Cannon’s unadventurous and uneven screenplay could have done with a judicious prune and lots more laughs, Moore’s (TV’s Dawson’s Creek and Brothers and Sisters) direction of his fresh young cast keeps it all mostly honest and unaffected. Kendrick (Up In The Air, The Twilight Saga films) is a perfectly charming lead, beginning as an unenthusiastic student killing time before displaying her vocal, percussive and mixing skills to fine effect as the a cappella competitions heat up.

Sydney-born Rebel Wilson (Bridesmaids, What to Expect When You're Expecting) continues to cement her reputation as one of Hollywood’s go-to comediennes, and her delivery of some of the screenplay’s wickedest observations is wonderfully dry. Brittany Snow (Chloe) and Anna Camp (Aubrey) deliver strong performances as the only two members of The Bellas left after a disastrous performance at the previous year’s finals. Their spirited camaraderie serves to help keep the film afloat long after it has come perilously close to outstaying its welcome.

Pictured: Rebel Wilson and Anna Kendrick in Pitch Perfect.

This review was commissioned by the Geraldton Newspaper Group.

Film Review: What to Expect When You’re Expecting

What to Expect When You’re Expecting. Rated M (sexual references and coarse language). 110 minutes. Directed by Kirk Jones. Screenplay byShauna Cross and Heather Hach. Based on the book by Heidi Murkoff.

Verdict: While it certainly won’t be for everyone, this charming little romance-infused comedy/drama works as well as you might expect.

With an all-star cast playing immensely likable characters, a keenly-observed screenplay by Ms Cross (Whip It) and Ms Hach (Freaky Friday) from Ms Murkoff’s bestseller, and a steady hand from Mr Jones (Nanny McPhee, Everybody's Fine), this charming little romantic comedy/drama works on every level.

Continuing the trend of recent films such as Valentine’s Day (2010), five individual stories are interwoven into a broad, sweeping canvas about the perils of impending parenthood. Elizabeth Banks (The Hunger Games) is great as Wendy Cooper, the owner of The Breast Choice Boutique – and her late-stage pregnancy-inspired meltdown at a Baby Expo that goes viral on YouTube is comedy at its finest.

Anna Kendrick (Up in the Air) and Chace Crawford (Gossip Girl) provide the youthful, passionate drama of a complicated relationship perfectly, while Cameron Diaz proves yet again that she can do practically anything with her pitch-perfect performance as the independent host of a reality television weight loss program who learns to accept that she can’t do everything on her own.

Jennifer Lopez (The Wedding Planner, Monster-in-Law, The Back-up Plan) is in fine form as the hard-working Holly who, along with her partner Alex (Rodrigo Santoro), are nervously anticipating being accepted as adoptive parents of an Ethiopian orphan. The scenes in the Ethiopian orphanage will melt the hardest of hearts, as will an unexpectedly dramatic development for one of the characters in childbirth.

While it certainly won’t move or delight everyone, What to Expect When You’re Expecting is an involving and entertaining little film that, wisely, balances all of its attendant romance, comedy and drama almost perfectly.

This review was commissioned by the Geraldton Newspaper Group.