Any movie that features the Green Bay Packers, not to mention babes mud-wrestling and pillow-fighting, certainly has guy appeal. But don’t worry, ladies: There are also some things you might like about “Pitch Perfect 2.”
Not as aca-mazing as “Pitch Perfect” (which made my 10-best list for 2012), the follow-up should have been cut by 10 or 15 minutes. First-time director Elizabeth Banks (who returns as a snarky announcer) doesn’t have the zippy comic timing of the first film’s helmer, Jason Moore.
But never mind: There are a half-dozen hilarious scenes, the Barden Bellas’ new nemesis is awesomely weird, and you could hardly find a more endearing group of college students played by 30-year-old actresses.
After a wardrobe malfunction involving Fat Amy (Rebel Wilson) losing her pants in front of President Obama, the Barden Bellas a cappella singing group fights for reinstatement by competing in the world championship against a German outfit called Das Sound Machine.
The Germans look like they came from a techno-future as imagined in 1985, and their she-wolf leader would be intimidating enough even if she weren’t called Kommissar and played by someone called Birgitte Hjort Sørensen. In the obligatory trash-talk phase of the aca-battle, she calls Beca (Anna Kendrick) “a little elf.” But Beca is so flustered by Kommissar’s Valkyrie glow that her attempts at insulting the German leader kinda sound more like gushing. The best Beca can do is “Your sweat smells like cinnamon.”
The movie is a little slow to get going, but in the second half there are several brilliant set pieces, like a secret competition in which those football players have a classic cameo. A camping trip yields not only a great gag featuring a net intended as a bear trap, but also an unforgettable solo by Wilson singing a Pat Benatar love song. Fat Amy’s halting romance with Bumper (Adam DeVine) is sweetly off-kilter, and “True Grit” star Hailee Steinfeld turns out to have an amazing soul voice as the newest Bella.
The fondly snarky relationships and the dazzling a cappella arrangements of pop songs give the film the fizzy party atmosphere of its predecessor, though one difference is the startling number of illegal-immigrant jokes delivered by a Latina Bella (Chrissie Fit). The sequel even comes up with a wonderful moment of found musicality that competes with Kendrick singing “Cups” three years ago: This time she busts out a Christmas mash-up with Snoop Dogg.
If guys avoid this movie because they think it’s icky girl stuff, they should reconsider: The main attraction isn’t the sisterhood but the zigzag wit of writer Kay Cannon, who has the same loopiness as the best Will Ferrell movies: “I will teach underprivileged children to sing, or I will dance exotically,” says one Bella. And as Fat Amy, Wilson — a woman who could make lung cancer funny — explains why an Australian like her can sing for the American team: “I’m fat. And that’s close enough.”