Movie Review: Pitch Perfect 2 (+trailer)

The a cappella girls are back with some great entertainment.

There's always been an appetite for young people and music to play big parts in movies and have some considerable success with it.

Think High School Musical (three of them), Glee and even the TV series Fame.

Young talented people and a good story never seem to go astray. When Pitch Perfect came out in 2012 no one was predicting the enormous success it achieved. Three years on the magic is still strong and, if anything, the sequel offers more than the original.

Key to the winning formula are the music and the comedy.

We rejoin the a cappella queens Barden Bellas after three years of unprecedented success.

They are at the top of their game until a humiliating accident during a major performance threatens the very existence of the group.

Their only chance for survival is to win the world a cappella title in Denmark. To do so they need to defeat the supreme and rarely beaten German combination.

At the group's helm is Beca (Anna Kendrick), Fat Amy (Rebel Wilson), Chloe (Brittany Snow) and newcomer Emily (Hailee Steinfeld).

Beca faces the added burden of trying to get her music-producing career underway while helping the Bellas save themselves.

But it is Fat Amy who is the star of the show. It is hard to know how many of her lines are scripted and how many she makes up as she goes along.

Whichever one it is, she is unpredictable and very funny with her words and expressions. We are treated to her funny moments throughout and the music is also a constant for us to enjoy.

Newcomer Emily adds some freshness from the first movie but in the end, it is the combination of a great cast that keeps the magic carrying on.

Pitch Perfect 2 has the beauty of widespread appeal with teens to a much older audience enjoying what it has to offer.

Pitch Perfect 2
(M), 115 minutes
Rating: 4/5 stars