Pitch Perfect (2012): A Tired But Catchy Tune

by Kevin Gardner

Pitch Perfect, the first movie in a 3-part series, was a favorite of high school and college-age students alike when it first hit the screen in 2012. Starring Anna Kendrick, Skylar Astin, Rebel Wilson, and others in an ensemble cast. This movie ended up being a sleeper hit, making over $115 million worldwide. It is clear that Pitch Perfect was a crowd-pleaser, but it was also far from being a flawless show.

Recent high school graduate Beca Mitchell (Anna Kendrick) doesn't want to go to college. The drama, the cliques, the classes, and the student loans just aren't part of her plans. As part of a deal with her dad, she joins the campus's female a capella group, the Barden Bellas, and "mixes up" their repertoire by incorporating her DJ-ing skills into their music. 

One thing is for certain: Pitch Perfect exhibits a wide range of excellent musical talent. With singers such as Anna Kendrick (who went on to star in The Last Five Years and Into The Woods) and Skylar Astin (who had previously performed in the original Broadway cast of Spring Awakening), it was hard to botch the vocal portion of this film. But the musical talent goes beyond just the talent of the singers. The movie highlights several different "mashups" of two or more different songs. Although the songs featured in the film are ones that the audience already knows and loves, the mashups find a way to put a new twist on some old favorites. Especially in the "Ladies of the 80's" Riff-Off, there is enough nostalgia to remind us what we love about the songs while still keeping them fresh for newer audiences.

There are a few notes that Pitch Perfect, unfortunately, doesn't quite hit. A lot of the comedic attempts made in the script aren't quite "PC." While some audience members may be okay with these quips, there is a good portion who are turned off by them. This loses the respect of some large portions of the audience. While it may seem at first as though "Fat Amy" is a powerful fat character, it becomes clear that most of her scenes involve some kind of joke centered around her weight rather than making her a multifaceted character. 

Similar to Fat Amy, the racial minorities in the cast are used almost exclusively for comic relief. Most of the jokes centered around these characters play into stereotypes that are, at best, overused. The token Asian of the Bellas, Lilly, is portrayed as being shy and quirky, while Cynthia-Rose (the group's black singer) is seen as overly-sexualized. These stereotypes mixed into an overwhelmingly "wonderbread" cast creates some uneasy feelings for some audience members.

The storyline is anything but original, although this is not necessarily a bad thing. Sticking to a formula that works is often what makes many movies so successful. There is a lot of predictability in the plot (Reluctant teen bets that she won't enjoy something, gets roped into an activity she would rather not participate in, meets a boy who is a part of a rival team, develops a fondness for the activity she previously opposed as well as the boy she is not supposed to have feelings for, leads her team to victory, and confesses her true emotions), but it is overall an enjoyable movie.

Pitch Perfect is far from perfect, but the film is nonetheless fun to watch. It also has a killer soundtrack that almost makes the audience want to take up acapella singing. If you're looking for an entertaining movie, it provides a lot of laughs and unique sounds. If you're looking for anything deeper than that, you may need to look further.