Last call pitches! – a Pitch Perfect 3 review

The Last Jedi may be the main talking point when it comes to movies at the moment, but it’s not the only treat that’s on offer in theatres this yuletide season. Beca and the Barden Bellas are back on the big screen for one last aca-awesome adventure that sees them setting off on an expedition across the Atlantic to enthral the troops on the USO circuit in Europe.

Starting with an explosive situation on a boat, Pitch Perfect 3 wastes no time establishing that it aims to outdo its predecessors in terms of spectacle and absurdity, and ends up excelling throughout as a result. Unexpectedly for this franchise, there’s a lot of action incorporated into the plot, all of which is executed with a tremendous sense of self-awareness and fun. A profusion of fantastically farcical fight scenes in the final act make for some wonderfully rousing watching, while the overall outlandish and tongue-in-cheek tone of the narrative ensures that the lovable a cappella troupe are afforded a finale that’s just as engrossingly hilarious – if not even more so – than the two rib-tickling films that came before it.
Naturally, there’s an abundance of absorbing musical numbers spread out across the movie’s cheery ninety three minute runtime as well, with some of my personal favourite examples being a marvellously riveting riff-off on a military base, an incredibly impressive a capella cover of Britney Spears’s “Toxic”, and a stupendously affecting climactic performance by the Bellas in the third act.
However, what I loved most about Pitch Perfect 3 was how well it developed and wrapped up the arcs of all of the major characters from the original film.

While this third entry in the series doesn’t revolve around franchise protagonist Beca Mitchell quite as heavily as its predecessors did, the narrative’s ultimate resolution serves as an extremely satisfying conclusion to her story and the always-amazing Anna Kendrick is absolutely impeccable in the role once again. On top of continuing to endow the character with an endearingly down-to-earth personality, the Academy Award nominated actress manages to surpass herself in the singing department with each successive showcase of her stunning vocal talent as the proceedings play out.

Unsurprisingly, Rebel Wilson is responsible for facilitating a large amount of the movie’s most sidesplittingly hilarious moments as the magnificently eccentric Fat Amy. However, as adept as Wilson is at inciting laughs, she also does a great job of conveying Amy’s emotional conflict during an intriguing subplot that explores the particulars of the barmy Bella’s life before she was a student at Barden University.

Brittany Snow brings a lot of humour to the table as Chloe too, both by underscoring the aspiring vet’s lingering desire to exercise her a capella skills and through her amusing reactions every time she encounters an American serviceman to whom she takes an immediate liking. Despite still occasionally exhibiting insecurities about existence outside of college, I thought Chloe seemed considerably more laid-back and playful than she was in the last two films and Snow was extremely engaging whenever she was onscreen.

Meanwhile, Anna Camp succeeds in keeping former Bella leader Aubrey Posen consistently sympathetic by expertly expressing the emotional turmoil she harbours as a result of a strained familial relationship, which explains why the character was so competitive when we first met her and adds a lot of depth to her personality in the process.

On the other hand, I was disappointed that legacy Bella Emily Junk faded into the background during a lot of the scenes in which she appeared, because I thought she was one of the highlights of the last film and ever since I saw The Edge of Seventeen, I’ve been of the belief that Hailee Steinfeld is one of the most talented up and coming performers on the movie scene at the moment.

As for the rest of the Bellas, Hana Mae Lee has some humorous moments as the group’s most softly spoken member, and I enjoyed the recurring joke of how Jessica and Ashley are just sort of there.

In terms of antagonists, Ruby Rose’s Calamity and her puntastically-named band Evermoist aren’t as alluringly ludicrous as Das Sound Machine were in Pitch Perfect 2, but their first proper on-stage performance was so astounding that it made me wish they were a real act! However, Evermoist are not the real villains of this film and I don’t think I can comment on who is, because it could be considered a spoiler. It was a plot point of which I was unaware in advance anyway, so all I’ll say is that the movie’s main adversary actually helps to flesh out a familiar character and acts as the impetus for all of the aforementioned superbly zany fight scenes in the final act.

Additionally, Elizabeth Banks and John Michael Higgins reprise their roles as a cappella commentators Gail Abernathy-McKadden-Feinberger and John Smith, respectively, with each of them spouting out the occasional amusing one-liners between key scenes. The reason for their return is undeniably contrived, but I state that merely as an observation and not as a criticism because, minor plot contrivances and one or two characters being underserviced aside, I absolutely loved pretty much every aspect of this movie and if it truly is the last call for the Barden Bellas, then I don’t think they could have been given a much more heartfelt, fitting and enjoyable send-off.
Packed with plenty of entrancing singing, charming characters, uproarious jokes and a surprising amount of exciting action, Pitch Perfect 3 is a delightfully upbeat and enchanting musical comedy that – when it wasn’t making me laugh out loud – had me smiling from ear to ear from start to finish and I highly recommend it to anyone who’s looking for something light-hearted and enlivening to enjoy at the cinema over the Christmas break.

Rating: 9/10.

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