The Barden Bellas are reunited once more for their last curtain call in “Pitch Perfect 3.” The group goes off on another adventure and competition, where many misadventures and chaos take place. This time taking on bands that use musical instruments instead of just their voices after they are invited to perform on a United Service Organization (USO) tour.
Story: The Bellas have gone their separate ways after graduation and all of them have hit a rough patch, finding it hard to get jobs after the high of winning the world championships for a capella. After they get together for a reunion and see the new group of Barden Bellas perform with Emily (Hailee Steinfeld), they realize they want to sing together again.
While adventuring on the USO tour, Elizabeth Banks and John Michael Higgins reprise their roles as commentators and absurdly follow the Bellas around to document their lives after college because that would totally happen, right? This all takes place while the girls are trying to win over DJ Khaled during a competition on the USO tour to continue performing with him.
Characters: Throughout the flick there is development with each character. Toward the end of the film, they all talk about where they want their lives to go next. During their time over in Europe, Aubrey (Anna Camp) is trying to see her father and Fat Amy (Rebel Wilson) finally meets her dad and finds out what he is really like, leading audience members to learn more about the characters. Meanwhile, Lily (Hana Mae Lee) and Chloe (Brittany Snow), each find love interests, and Beca finds herself again in the music production industry during their time on tour.
Style: The comedy is still there, with many lines making a good laugh. Screenplay writer Kay Cannon also maintained the much-loved pop music so characteristic in the prior films. However, Cannon and Director Trish Sie also took the plot of this final installment in a different direction, this time adding action, with the Bellas being taken hostage, a yacht blowing up and an apartment catching fire.
Verdict: Although pop tunes continue throughout the score and the Bellas’ singing and dancing are great as usual, the rest of this film breaks away from the previous movies. The storyline twists and turns with action-filled scenes that take away from the point of the franchise, which is to see the Bellas performing and trying to win world championships and competitions.
The plot breaks off to different characters on their own adventures, and the Bellas as a whole seem forgotten. There are some good moments in the movie, but overall, it drops the ball instead of dropping the mic with too much going on in the film, leaving viewers like me unsatisfied.
