Pitch Perfect 2 (2015)

I was planning to watch the first Pitch Perfect first, but my folks invited me to come to the theater with them. They adore a cappella and were already fans of at least one group who would appear briefly on screen. I like such singing almost as much, even when the singers cover a song I normally dislike.

My sister warned us that the writing was very stupid. Well, from what I hear of "Glee," that shouldn't stop anyone. In truth, I'd call it about par for intelligence among modern Hollywood comedies. And it is oh so much one of those.

Evidently, in the first film, a college group called the Barden Bellas made history as the first all-female champions in a national a cappella contest. This time their opening scene ends with the world's most unfortunate wardrobe malfunction, prompting the school to wash its hands of the Bellas. Their only hope for public redemption is to make history again as the first world champions to represent the USA. Complicating matters are Beca (Anna Kendrick) quietly taking an internship on the side, self-designated "Fat Amy" (Rebel Wilson, much older than the average undergrad) sorting out her feelings for a seductive male singer, and former Bella daughter Emily (Hailee Steinfeld) finding her place as a newcomer.

Characters are so exaggerated, especially as dorks or kooks, that many could have come straight out of a Christopher Guest mockumentary. This means, among other things, that the comedy spends part of its time making fun of politically incorrect jerks and part of its time being politically incorrect itself. The Guatemalan Bella talks mainly about how horrible things are for people in or from her homeland. The Black lesbian keeps saucily reminding us of both her token minority aspects. And the main singing rivals take the form of a pseudo-militaristic German group, because to this day, that's one of the few nationalities that Americans still feel OK vilifying.

I couldn't help thinking of Bridesmaids, which does have a couple of the same actresses (Wilson and a barely there Kristen Wiig). Thankfully, PP2 is never as vulgar at its worst, and it boasts a female director as well as a female main writer -- not that everyone stuck to the script, as Kendrick improvised almost half her lines. I see more male names among the producers, but a female gets top billing on that score. And no Judd Apatow, whew.

Between great singing and a glut of cliches, I consider PP2 about average, in keeping with its receptions on IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, and Metacritic. If you crave a cappella, go for it. If not, eh, I did chuckle now and then, so maybe wait for alternatives to a theater viewing.