Up-tempo feel-good fun

Rating: 6/10 (2 January 2018)

'Pitch Perfect 2' (rare in the fact that it doesn't have a sub-title!) is a decent sequel to the surprise 2012 hit comedy about a university a capella group. This film is obviously aimed at females and is going after a younger audience, introducing 18-year-old Emily (Steinfeld) into the mix now - probably to allow a third film in the series. However, these don't make it a bad film - still plenty of enjoyable moments throughout.
There's probably less of a focus on the singing this time round, because - let's face it - a capella isn't really that exciting and can get old pretty quick. Especially with some of the rival teams - "Das Sound Machine" - and some of the terrible song choices (depending on your point-of-view, obviously). This is usually a good thing, as it gives Amy (Wilson) a chance to drop more quick-witted remarks and have more awkwardness with Bumper (DeVine) and even Becca (Kendrick) has some funny moments with her new boss (Keegan-Michael Key). But the best bits are still between the commentators - Elizabeth Banks (also her first time directing) & John Michael Higgins - plenty of hilarious lines and inappropriate comments.
It's a little too long (almost two hours), has a few redundant scenes and is very predictable, but you're going to get what you expect - lots of laughs, some young-adult-what-does-the-future-hold musing and plenty of extras in a Louisiana field pretending it's a Danish festival! I wish the original song ('Flashlight') wasn't by Jessie J, but there's still some decent songs in it.