The Last Pitch

The a capella songbirds of the Barden Bellas reunite for one last hurrah in ‘Pitch Perfect 3,’ the third and thankfully final installment of a trilogy that’s been fresh out of ideas since the original surprise hit back in 2012.  That’s the thing with surprise “sleepers” that exceed expectations critically and commercially; we can expect sequel(s) that in the vast majority of cases fail to equal—much less surpass—the original.  PP3 is only the latest example of forced and unwanted trilogies, but we can hardly fault them for trying from a strictly business standpoint.

 

PP3 picks up sometime after PP2 and finds the Bellas out of their league in a competition against seasoned professional bands (with instruments) for the opportunity to perform as part of an overseas USO tour hosted by DJ Khaled.  Unlike PP1 and PP2, however, there isn’t much of a contest this time because all the singing and improv-ing took a backseat to an unexpected action-comedy script centered on “Fat Amy” (Rebel Wilson) and her estranged criminal dad (John Lithgow).  This ill-conceived diversion sucked away much of what made the original (and PP2 to a lesser degree) so charming and delightful because PP3 made for a poor action-comedy.

 

Like other unnecessary sequels, it is probably unavoidable that PP3 would have suffered from the “law of diminishing returns” no matter what, but it didn’t have to go out with such a depressing note.  The only notable musical performance in the entire film was an unimaginative cover of Britney Spears’s “Toxic.”  While I wasn’t expecting much out of PP3, at least I was hoping for some decent a capella singing.  Sadly even that was too much to ask.

Grade: C-