Yes No Maybe So: Pitch Perfect 2
Saturday, November 22, 2014 at 11:30AM Margaret here...
Long have we waited. Our lands have been barren, our sleep fitful, our souls thirsting for what we have been promised. But hope may yet again have a life in our hearts, because the trailer for the Pitch Perfect sequel has been granted unto us. Aca-praise be.
Honestly, Pitch Perfect 2 is exactly the kind of movie where most of us know long before a trailer hits whether we're a yes or a no. (I'm a yes because when I saw the first one, it was at a three-dollar theater after a happy hour, and I was with resident TFE ray of sunshine Anne Marie. Five-star experience, would recommend.)
That said, the trailer calls irresistably for our scrutiny. Excited to join our acappella brethren and sistren for an evening of good/clean/goof fun featuring extensive cameos from the Top 40 of our recent past? Hop on board.
- Who among ye can resist the bewitching call of pretty, pretty harmonies? Bless this team for hiring a group of actors who sound genuinely lovely when they sing.
- Anna Kendrick is as good a leading lady for this mini-franchise as they could possibly have landed. She's such a star, and musical comedy sure is her sweet spot.
- Lilly (Hana Mae Lee) licking Beca's nose! A+ character, will need much more of her in the sequel. She brought a welcome dose of genuine weirdness to the first movie and I hope this time around they let her comic chops roam free.
- So they cast David Cross as the gatekeeper/emcee of some kind of underground acapella speakeasy? Y'know, that.... sounds pretty right to me.
- There is a downright absurd suite of performance outfits we see on the teams, and I am all for it. Can't have show choir world championships without Scottish BDSM enthusiasts, a disco bowling league, prep-school altar boys, or Chili's hostesses.
- Ahhh ha ha ha the tagline for this is "The Pitch Is Back." I can't even be mad at that, that's High Cornball genius.
- Pretty pretty harmonies notwithstanding, am I seriously hearing that damn Cups song right now. I'm pretty sure it only just left the Billboard charts/my brain after being beaten into us all for a solid two years and now it is coming back to taunt us all and when will it end, Anna Kendrick, when will it end?!?
- This isn't a dialogue-heavy trailer but they still manage to squeeze in several jokes carbon-copied from the first movie. If they don't try to find new sources of humor, this is going to be one stale hour-and-a-half.
- Velour blazers on the boys' group are a big, loud no. Apologies, but if they're going to position that Skylar Whatsisface as a romantic lead there is going to need to be a strict moratorium on velour blazers. It is for the good of mankind that I speak.
- Snooty European rivals have been done, and they have been done, and they have been done some more.
- This is Elizabeth Banks' directorial debut, which is a bit of a question mark. She produced the original and clearly gets what made it so beloved, plus her scenes playing commentator with John Michael Higgins are far and away the funniest parts of the first movie and of this trailer. Could mean good things.
- Pillow fights, slow-motion group hugs, team mud-wrestling.. it looks like they plan to lean pretty hard into the rag-tag misfit sisterhood thing. Not inherently a bad thing but can often tip into triteness on the quick.
- For a minute there, Rebel Wilson was all over the place and totally happening. If she nails it here she might be able to kickstart that momentum again. I hope they give her more to do than recycle bits from the first movie..
- Remember the career we all thought Hailee Steinfield was gonna have? Do you think that's still in the cards?
Reader Comments (11)
Oh Yes Please i want some more of this sweetly sung fun. I didn't catch the original until it showed up on my cable movie channel. Needless to say I fell in love with it and the marvellous cast. It's one of those films that's very re-watchable. I think Elizabeth Banks is pretty savvy about what works, I think she can pull it off.
I loved Pitch Perfect... so much so that I put it in the top ten of its year. But this trailer is giving me Miss Congeniality 2 vibes. The jokes just didn't seem to be landing for me. Most were distinctly unfunny. And the plot is basically the acapella version of The Mighty Ducks 2, no?
I'll enjoy it for the music but I'm afraid I'll be disappointed otherwise.
Is anyone else made slightly uncomfortable by the "no" means "yes" joke that ends the trailer? Rebel is funny but that feels...unfortunate.
I'm a yes, but I thought the trailer was pretty...bad.
Not quite off-topic: Bitch Perfect.
While it certainly was fun, the first film was far from a good movie. This looks the same.
I feel like this is already the beginning of the end- got a totally Step Up movie franchise feel to it now.... Won't be as good as the first- really an international singing competition?!
What sold me is Lily licking Becca's nose. She's my favorite character.
I'm a no. It looks painfully obvious.
I am here for any and all Lily weirdness. I am here for any and all aca-fabulous Top 40 hits. I'm even here for velour jackets. Resounding, elated YES to this (especially if it still involves happy hour beforehand).
Hailee Steinfeld's still working steadily, and will probably get another really good role soon enough. the Moretz creature has been vampirically sucking up all the roles.