A derivative Pitch Perfect without the heart of the original

Rating: 4/10 (17 May 2015)

I am a BIG fan of the original Pitch Perfect. I ask everybody if they have watched it and force them to sit down and watch it with me right there and then if they haven't. I have introduced a great many people to the awesomeness that is Pitch Perfect 1. I am even the cause of a few Anna Kendrick crushes on account of the film.
This sequel feels like the awkward cousin of the original. It has some of the same features, but it is not nearly as charismatic as the original. It feels like the writers took what they figured people liked about the original (e.g. Fat Amy, the sexist banter between the podcasters) then exaggerated it beyond recognition without retaining the depth that made everything so funny in the first place. For instance, Elizabeth Banks and John Michael Higgins said some pretty hilariously inappropriate things in the original, but it took a second to realise how funny it was because the writers did a great job inserting wit subtly. In this instalment, their humour is blatant and not as funny. Overall, the sequel feels like a superficial attempt at copying the original without any heart.
Mostly what bothered me is that Brittany Snow's character, Anna Kendrick's character and others seem to have lost their original personalities. Snow seems more like the original uptight Bella leader (Anna Camp), which is puzzling since Brittany Snow was the moral centre of the group in the original.
I think the new girl is great, great voice and character. I also liked the German crew. The film definitely had good moments, I burst out laughing several times. But it doesn't make up for the fact that it lost the spirit of the original somewhere along the way.