Customer Reviews

Pitch Perfect [DVD] [2012]

I love a good musical film and TV shows like Glee so when I saw the trailer for Pitch Perfect at the cinema, I knew it was something that I had to go see. The trailer was funny and only showed clips of songs sung so it didn't really give too much away. The plot is pretty basic and quite predictable but that's normally what you get with this kind of film anyway. In a made up university, different a cappella groups battle it out for places in the national championships and to prove which group is the best in the university.

Anna Kendrick has begun to do quite well for herself since having a small part in the Twilight films. I really liked her in What to Expect When You're Expecting and because of that, it made me want to watch this film even more. Kendrick plays main character Beca, who can be described as alternative compared to the other girls at this particular university. She has a strong interest in making her own mixes of music and generally walks around with a big pair of headphones on. Beca is a witty and outspoken character which I liked about her. She isn't afraid to state her mind when she thinks she can make something better or thinks that something is wrong. Kendrick was really good in this role and played in perfectly.

Being a film about musical groups, there is quite a large cast. From The Bellas, next to Kendrick, Brittany Snow and Rebel Wilson shine in particular. Snow plays one of the leaders of the group and is one of the nicer girls while Wilson plays Fat Amy, a larger Australian girl. I loved the character of Fat Amy so much because she was just hilarious. She has some amazingly funny lines throughout the whole film. Actually, she was probably my favourite character in the whole film and now I want to see more of what she has been in. Unfortunately, the male characters/ cast in the film were nowhere near as good as the girls and even love interest Jesse played by Skylar Astin was a let-down.

Pitch Perfect has a pretty strange soundtrack. Along with some really current songs such as Just The Way You Are by Bruno Mars and Right Round by Flo Rida, there are also songs such as The Sign by Ace of Base and Eternal Flame by The Bangles. However, the mix of songs was something that I found to be really interesting and something that set this film apart from other musicals. The mix of songs is done in such a way though that they go really well together and there are certain reasons for some of the songs. The soundtrack to this film is fantastic and one I would actually like to own.

Overall, as cheesy and predictable as this film is, I loved it. The cast and characters are what made this film so good and along with a funny script and great songs, it was an instant hit for me. This will definitely be getting a place in my DVD collection.

At the end of the day we all know what we're going to get from this film.

Yes, the plot is predictable, but there are some serious laugh out loud moments in there.

Films like Pitch Perfect aren't everyone's cup of tea, I love them because they're so cheesy, and with the added bonus of songs you end up singing along to.

So if you want laughs, cheesy romance and some good songs to sing to, this film is for you. If not, well don't watch it. Simple.

'Beca' joins the college at which her father teaches.
despite the best efforts of the 'Bellas' group leaders,
'Beca' doesn't seem interested at first, her music interests
being in a different field.
the group are rehearsing to try and reach the '2012' acapella
contest, a competition the 'Treblemakers' from the same college
as the 'Bellas' had won the year before.
the leader of the group is reluctant to create a new image using
the style and songs that had failed 'Bellas' before.
to move forward and have any chance the group leader will need
to listen to 'Beca' and the other new recruits.
must admit because of it's teen theme I did struggle through much
of the early part of the film, however as the contest got nearer
the music got better as did the story line.
stick with it and you'll maybe have...the feel good factor.

I started watching this film with very high expectations. My friends and many critics had raved about how good this film was and I was excited to finally see the film from which the infamous 'cup song' had originated. Unfortunately, with every passing minute of this film, my expectations dropped lower and lower until the point where I was thoroughly bewildered by all the praise this film had received. This is, by no means, a bad film. It is; however, full of clichés with a poorly developed plot line that tries to pack too much in to too little time.

Pitch Perfect is the story of two a cappella groups from Barden University: The Barden Bellas and the Treblemakers. The treblemakers are seen as the best of the best, consistently winning the southeastern regional competition and while the Barden Bellas are good, they've faced a few hiccups along the way. New freshman Beca, played by Anna Kendrick, is a rebellious teenager who just wants to move to LA to pursue a career in music and DJing but she is forced to endure one year of college before her father will let her go. Seeing that Beca has not made any effort to make friends or join any societies within the first month at Barden University, her father says that she must join at least one society or the deal is off. Caught singing in the shower, Beca is recruited into the Barden Bellas but her rebellious nature grates on the Aubrey, the leader of the Bellas. At the same time, Beca's friend from the college radio, Jesse, becomes a Treblemaker, but the Bellas are strictly forbidden by Aubrey to have any sort of relationship with the Treblemakers lest they should lose their place as part of the group.

This film is labelled as a musical comedy, though, whilst it was very funny at times, I could never quite figure out whether I was laughing because the film was genuinely funny or because I was incredulous at how bad certain moments of this film are. Rebel Wilson is a brilliant actress who really stands out and basically single-handedly carries the 'comedy' of this entire film. She is hilariously funny and confident and was probably one of the most realistically portrayed characters in the film despite how ridiculous her character is. There's nothing particularly wrong with anyone else's acting, however, there isn't anything particularly noteworthy about the other actors and actresses. Anna Kendrick plays the standard teenage rebel with Daddy issues and whilst she does it fairly well, there just wasn't anything fresh or exciting about her character or Kendrick's performance. The same goes for pretty much every other character.

Insta-love. My (and everyone else's) pet hate seems prevalent in this film. Beca, turns very quickly from the alternative girl with far too many piercings to a sweet and confused college freshman who's fallen for a boy , Jesse the Trebletone, she is forbidden to date. Whilst the two interact whilst they volunteer at the college radio station together, there are very few scenes in which the pair are alone and in which you can see any sort of relationship forming. You know from the very beginning that something is going to happen between the two and suddenly the chemistry is there, but there is no build up whatsoever which is frustrating. Although this isn't a romance film, I would still expect the romance to be developed properly and fully alongside the singing drama.

Perhaps the film's one saving grace is that at the very least, the singing was genuinely really impressive. All the actor's and actresses in this film have amazing voices and there were some really cool covers and mashups throughout the film. A large majority of this film is spent singing and dancing which is good because it's entertaining but also bad because it meant that the plot and the going's on behind stage were not fully developed. With just a little bit of singing time cut, I'm sure that the rest of the drama in this film could've been properly executed which would have made film excellent instead of just 'good'.

All in all, I found Pitch Perfect to be an entertaining film that was downright hilarious at times. The problem is that it is an incredibly over-hyped film, thus prospective watchers have very high expectations, which in my case, were not fulfilled. If you're a fan of Glee then you'll probably love Pitch Perfect because the whole setup and the way the sets are performed pretty much mimics the way they are executed in Glee. If the drama that wasn't directly related to the singing parts of this film, i.e. romance, friend, family etc, had been fully developed, then this film would've been much more enjoyable. However, I can't help but feel that a better title for this film would've been - Glee: The Movie.

I went to see this in the cinema, dragging my musical hating friends along with me. Within the first 5 minutes we were all rocking with laughter in our seats, spilling coke and popcorn. The singing actually takes a backdrop to the story with an amazing soundtrack. I went to see the film 3 times in the cinema with different groups of friends and I have been waiting waiting waiting for this to come out on DVD!!!! I would recommend it to anyone- even my dad loved it!!!

Also glad to hear a second film is coming in a year or two. I don't usually like movies that just seem to act like Glee, but characters such as Fat Amy which is what she is called on film so not being offensive, but yeah she just made it a right laugh.

Absolutely loved the songs/singing!
Watched it over and over for the performances - dancing and singing.
I will be watching it again!

Such a fun film that you cannot help but watch more than once and sing along. I recommend you download the sound track too.

Rival male and female a- cappella groups from the same college compete for national glory.

The foundation of Pitch Perfect is the well tested Glee formula of classic songs being reinterpreted by the singing groups; added to this is a great cast and some very funny (and a few gross) moments that manage to target a wide audience.

Harmless, very enjoyable and a guaranteed foot-tapper.

When a friend recommended this film to me, I was a bit sceptical as I thought it was just going to be a typical teen film aimed mainly at women (not that there's anything wrong with that, but being neither female or a teen I was worried that I wasn't the movie's target audience). Instead I enjoyed one of the funniest, smartest comedies I've seen in years. Okay, a number of the main cast look significantly older than the characters they're playing, but the performances are great, the film is constantly funny and the musical numbers are just fantastic. Thoroughly recommended.