Review of Pitch Perfect (2012) by Evanrm — 19 Dec 2012

The verdict: Okay. Unfortunately, at it's core the film is a very well-worn path: bunch of semi-losers manage to win. Anna Kendrick is the only one who manages to infuse a character with any sort of personality, but she's too hot to be a genuine outsider, and her lines are way too scripted.

She also listens to pure pop music, despite sporting various body piercings and being supposedly "alternative". Like, who at that age doesn't know who David Guetta is? Her character wants to create music, but all she does is cut up pop songs and remix them (which you never actually hear anyway).

At college age if she isn't either DJing up a storm or at least writing her own material, then it makes her look like a naive kid. The rest of the cast are cardboard. Rebel Wilson is funny-ish, but not in any way that another actor couldn't have done.

Some funny lines, some snappy dialogue, and overall very staged scenes. Almost every scene actually feels scripted, rather than organic. The "awkward" scenes are highly unbelievable. This caused me to get taken out of the film's narrative.

The Glee-style music is also way too good, especially for people who are mixing in high-energy dance moves. In the space of about 10 minutes the Barden Bellas go from getting kicked out of a fraternity show because they suck to managing "pitch perfect" impro songs in a disused swimming pool.

It's like no one ever thought of singing anything other than 80s songs. That kind of simple naivety unfortunately makes the film feel a bit immature, like a Glee version of Step Up. Overall it's a pretty good attempt at a lite chick-flick, but I wish it had been directed and handled better.

It's let down by the cookie-cutter nature of the plot, heavily scripted moment, and no heart.