‘Pitch Perfect 3’ (2017): Barden Bellas ‘Enlist’ For one Last Curtain Call

From the first time I saw the original Pitch Perfect film, I was hooked. Silly, but highlighted by its friendships, the story is one I thoroughly enjoyed. Plus, it doesn’t hurt that music is the lynch pin that holds it together. Back for “round three,” our favorite Bellas return.

Pitch Perfect 3 (2017) Film Review

Post collegiate life for the Bellas is awkward to say the least. In the aftermath of their successful college lives as professional acapella singers, they’re all a little lost. Each one suffers from the lack of being in that college safety net between “childhood,” and entering that phase known as adulthood. Beca (Anna Kendrick) has just been fired from her not-so-glamorous record label job. Roomie and best friend, Amy (Rebel Wilson) is faring no better and is instead putting on one-woman shows on street corners. To further compound Beca’s troubles, she and her college boyfriend have called it quits.

There’s a glimmer of hope when the Bellas reunite with their former protégé, Emily (Hailee Steinfeld), who still performs with the Bellas. Realizing none of their post-graduation aspirations are going according to plan, they all, including Chloe (Brittany Snow), follow Aubrey (Anna Camp) on a USO tour as a final “goodbye.”

As inappropriate as these films are, they are hilarious. Their sense of comedy isn’t always, shall we say, the classiest, but that isn’t deterrent enough to stop me from watching. Prior to seeing the first in the franchise, I was skeptical. In fact, despite thinking the trailer looked entertaining, I did hold back on seeing the movie for quite some time. Then a blogging friend reviewed the movie, and that was all it took. I did rent the film, and a new cinematic entertainment discovery was made.

Part of the charm (if that’s a word that can be associated with this script), is the friendships each film cultivates. Over the years of this franchise, that’s the primary element we most love and find endearing. These girls have been close friends, like sisters; they fight, they dislike one another and they walk out in fits of annoyance. Yet through their many ups and downs, they always find a way to reconnect. It’s this that makes the films worth wading through the trash. Well that, and the fun acapella sequences, many of which consist of popular chart-topping songs that inspire toe-tapping.

FILM REVIEW | Pitch Perfect (2012) – Hilarious Comedy about Friendship Connected by Music

If I’m looking that this third film objectively, it probably doesn’t have the same magic as the first nor the box office power of Pitch Perfect 2. That said, I’m a softie for anything related to the military, and the patriotic connection this film features targets my movie-goer heart. Though it’s not hard-hitting or touching in the same way a proper military drama is, the thread still runs through the film. Plus, the cute romance that sets up with a man in uniform (Matt Lanter) doesn’t hurt its cause.

Between the fun the cast seems to have and the genuine friendships they portray on screen, and the fabulous music, this series entertains. Deeply imperfect, it’s not a film worthy of any kind of award you measure cinematic success by, but it’s funny. That alone earns Pitch Perfect 3 brownie points in a box office dominated by darkness and tragedy. Lighthearted is something I want sometimes when popping a disc into my Bluray player, and even if this is to be the Bellas ‘last call,’ it’s one I’ll revisit now and again.

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Content: There is plenty of crude and suggestive material in this film. Some of which is sexual, other is just not tactful. There are also a few visual innuendos, drinking, and some profanity. The film is PG13.