Pitch Perfect - B

​Quick Hit: Glee the movie turns out to not be as bad as I expected.  

I’m a singing geek – there, I said it. I ashamedly counted myself amongst the Gleeks (I shudder at the word) back in the beginning seasons of the Ryan Murphy helmed Glee – you know, when it was actually worth watching. Now I watch some of those stars on different shows, like Supergirl and The Flash. So when I saw that a movie was coming out called Pitch Perfect, I was interested, but not nearly enough to pay to go see it. That’s because I didn’t need to see Glee: The Movie with characters I didn’t know and already enjoy their vocal stylings.

However, when planning trilogy week, I was kind of curious what all the fuss is about, and so I was fine with watching the film.
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And honestly, it’s a decent movie. It’s standard fare in the sense that the character’s arcs aren’t complicated, and the beginning and end paints it as a pure losers to winners fin, but it’s still ok. Simple plots don’t kill movies. 

What I enjoyed the most was the character’s interactions with each other. Anna Kendrick is very good at her role, and I enjoyed the subtle romance that occurred with Sklar Astin. It wasn’t overdone, but it was always there. I also enjoyed the different friendships that formed between Beca, Fat Amy, and the exploration of the friendship between Stacie and Chloe. I also enjoyed Elizabeth Bank’s and John Michael Higgin’s over the top commentary during the events.

That is one of the strongest points of the movie – the inability to take itself too seriously. From the opening salvo with Stacie absolutely losing her chunks, and the decision to bring that back later as well, to the different character’s like Bumper and Lilly, who are only there as comic fodder, you can’t help but appreciate that the movie decided it didn’t need to be super serious to be a success. I also like the idea of throwing “Aca” into words it really doesn’t belong in.
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But let’s be real, the biggest reason that you watched this was for the performances. It really did play like an extended version of Glee. Anna Kendrick consistently stars throughout, and her rendition of “Cups” during the audition will probably be one of my favorite covers of a song. And of course the Finals is a highlight, with the final Mash-up being something that is both pleasing to the ear and the eye. 

The biggest criticism I have is just the overall lack of depth to this film. There’s not much to it, but sometimes, it’s ok to just turn off your brain. I’m going to give this one a “B”.

For more on this film, check out IMDB.