The Bellas of Barden University are back. As always, they begin their year with a rocky start which gets the movie going, and Pitch Perfect 3 is no different.
Let me back up for a moment. Pitch Perfect is the perfect girls’ night movie about college freshman Beca Mitchell (Anna Kendrick) who attends Barden University, eventually leads an a capella group (something out of her comfort zone) and makes lifelong friends. During the activities fair, Aubrey (Anna Camp) and Chloe (Brittany Snow) invite her to sing at their a capella group the Barden Bellas, hoping to get some new people who don’t know about their recent unfortunate situation. Beca initially refuses, but eventually gets persuaded by Chloe. As the year goes on, Beca learns new things about her friends, including her best friend Fat Amy (Rebel Wilson) who is full of surprises, and the bossy leader Aubrey who resigns and lets Beca take the lead. I saw Pitch Perfect when I was twelve, and it has been my favorite movie ever since. The next 3 years were spent watching it over again until I could recite some scenes by heart, while patiently waiting for the possibility of a next movie.
In 2015, my patience was rewarded when Pitch Perfect 2 came into theatres. I was ecstatic, expecting an engaging sequel, and I was not disappointed. Pitch Perfect 2 features a different cast except for the main characters, and plenty of comedic drama. After an accidental scandalous act performed by our favorite australian singer Fat Amy, the Barden Bellas face an unthinkable punishment. One look at Chloe’s hurt face and Beca’s annoyed one, we feel that all hope is lost, until Bella legacy Emily Junk (Hailee Steinfeld) appears at their doorstep for an impromptu audition. Together with their new Bella, the a capella champions of the previous year work harder than ever to win the world championships and get their punishment revoked. Just like the last movie, I spent the next two years repeatedly watching this movie, creating a third movie in my head.
Until it became a reality.
An opening song followed by an intense action scene stirs up the audience, setting a new mood very different from the other two movies. In Pitch Perfect 3, the Bellas are no longer a part of Barden University but are on their own ready to take on the world…or so we thought. It takes a simple plea from Chloe to get the Bellas back into the groove as they pack their bags and head for Europe to compete at the USO tours to perform for the armed services. The catch is that now the Bellas are competing in a whole new league: groups playing actual instruments.
Pitch Perfect 3 is the much needed movie about friends becoming family. When I saw the trailer, I wasn’t sure what the plot was going to be. I expected the plot to be the same as the other two, where the bellas try to prove they are “not a joke,” but this time I was pleasantly surprised when the plot got twisted. In this movie, all the loose ends get tied up, and the ending leaves you with an indescribable happy feeling that will stay with you forever.
The music performed by all the performers is a catchy mix of early songs dating all the way back to the 90’s and new ones from as recent as 2017. Since this movie is a musical comedy, the songs they sing play very important roles. Each number sung by each group reflects the emotions of the performers and left me feeling like I was part of the group. During the final scene, I could feel the emotions of the cast through the screen, a true indicator that the movie was made well. I would recommend watching this series to anyone who loves stories of music and friendship. Although this is probably the last movie, each movie in this trilogy is a movie I can watch (and have watched) numerous times without getting bored.
If you want your life to be complete, I have one suggestion: watch Pitch Perfect, the whole movie. Once you are done, watch Pitch Perfect 2 and for a heartwarming ending, watch the last Pitch Perfect movie, Pitch Perfect 3.
