“Aca-Wiedersehen bitches!” said Beca to DSM.

The Barden Bellas—now a three-time national a cappella singing champions—is the new zero pitch in Pitch Perfect 2. After a disgraceful return depicted in the beginning of this film, The Bellas, as I said before, is the American zero; their only chance is aiming the international. A Juxtaposition? That’s what always happened to lack-of-fresh idea sequels, returning in disgrace and expecting for a little more excuse from the international crowd.

Pitch Perfect was only good for its fresh theme—excusing how the worn-off zero-to-hero narrative worked and how the film was prone to sexism. Well, the film was a hit and a sequel was, predictably, awaited. In this sequel, The Bellas were still the same all-girl a cappella group, with Beca (Anna Kendrick) on lead along with Chloe (Brittany Snow), oh and the comical Fat Amy (Rebel Wilson) and the other girls. This time they got reinforcement from Emily (Hailee Steinfeld), a daughter of a legendary Bella, in aiming the international a cappella championship in Copenhagen, where Das Sound Machine (DSM)—their German arch-nemesis awaited.

By far, that’s the only addition to Pitch Perfect 2; the rest were like repetitions of the acclaimed predecessor. The songs were fresh, but the acting was no improvement and the script was too convenient to go off from the winning formula. I must say, the jokes were now better and wilder, but the dialogues were less clever. How the Bellas interacted with DSM or, specifically, the pre-Copenhagen a cappella battle were some carbon copies of the predecessor. Can I stop comparing?

Save the spectacular finale—that wasn’t really harmonious with the whole narrative setup—Pitch Perfect 2 is too convenient playing as its predecessor and not stands alone as a different film. Lack of fresh idea and little willingness to top the first film are the main problem. At least, the songs were still okay.

VERDICT: Pitch Perfect 2 is too convenient in imitating the first Pitch’s harmonious melody; yet, too many cliches and too little innovations are the discordant seasoning.

Pitch Perfect 2 (2015)

Comedy, Music Directed by: Elizabeth Banks Written by: Kay Cannon Starred by: Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson, Hailee Steinfeld, Brittany Snow Running Times: 115 mins Rated PG-13 for innuendo and language

IMDb | Official Site

The Barden Bellas—kini menjadi juara bertahan kontes akapela nasional—kembali menjadi pecundang di Pitch Perfect 2. Setelah comeback mereka di awal film yang memalukan, The Bellas dicekal di Amerika, sehingga satu-satunya harapan mereka hanyalah kompetisi internasional. Terdengar seperti jukstaposisi? Ya, itulah yang terjadi pada sekuel yang malas mencari ide baru: comeback dengan memalukan lalu mencoba mencari keuntungan dari penonton internasional. Klise.

Pitch Perfect pertama cukup bagus karena temanya yang segar—di samping narasi zero-to-hero-nya yang generik dan kecenderungan sexisme-nya. Tapi film itu adalah hit besar dan pastinya sequel adalah opsi utama.

Di sekuel ini, The Bellas masih grup yang sama, dengan Beca (Kendrick) sebagai leader bersama Chloe (Snow) beserta Fat Amy (Rebel Wilson) dan para gadis lainnya. Kini, mereka mendapat tambahan amunisi dalam wujud Emily (Steinfeld), putri salah satu alumni Bella, dalam menghadapi kompetisi internasional di Copenhagen—di mana Das Sound Machine dari Jerman telah menanti.

Sejauh ini, cuma hal itu saja tambahan dalam Pitch Perfect 2; selebihnya hanyalah repetisi dari film pertamanya. Memang, lagu-lagunya masih menarik, namun actingnya tak ada peningkatan apalagi skripnya yang terlalu nyaman dengan winning formulanya. Joke-nya memang lebih lucu dan jorok, tapi dialognya tidak lebih cerdas. Cara Bellas berinteraksi dengan DSM bahkan a cappella battle-nya seolah hanya carbon copy dari prekuelnya. Uh, stop membandingkan, dude.

Tapi jangan khawatir, finale-nya tetap spektakuler—meskipun tak terlalu harmoni dengan narasi yang sudah dibangun dari awal. Pitch Perfect 2 terlalu nyaman dalam “berperan” sebagai prekuelnya dan bukannya sebagai film yang orisinal. Kurangnya ide segar dan ambisi untuk melampaui film pertamanya menjadikan film ini sering menyanyikan nada fals. Tapi, cukup, lagunya masih bagus.