The Barden Bellas and all of your other favorite characters are back in this thoroughly-entertaining ac-a-awesome follow-up to the original Pitch Perfect film. In the years that have passed, the Bellas have continued to reign as national champions and are currently on their latest victory tour when Fat Amy (Rebel Wilson) has an unfortunate wardrobe malfunction during a performance for the president at the Kennedy Center. The Bellas now find themselves suspended, but make a deal with the a cappella governing body to reinstate them if they win the World Championships—something a United States team has never done. In the meantime, the European champions—German team Das Sound Machine (DSM)—will take over the Bellas’ victory tour.

Chloe (Brittany Snow) has failed her classes three times in order to be able to stay with the Bellas, and doesn’t want this to be how it all ends. While the Bellas are not allowed to actively recruit any new members, a talented Freshman legacy Emily (Hailee Steinfeld) shows up at their door, asking to follow in her mother’s footsteps. As the group tries to prepare for their one and any chance to restore the Bellas, Beca (Anna Kendrick) finds herself distracted with her new internship at a recording studio, and trying to impress her new boss (Keegan-Michael Key). And Fat Amy has her own distraction—Bumper (Adam DeVine), who’s now works for campus security. Will this group be able to get it together, take home the World Championship title and keep the Bellas going?!

The original Pitch Perfect is a nearly, well, perfect film, and this followup comes extremely close to that. All of the hilarious characters we loved from the first film are back and giving us more of the same. Gail (Elizabeth Banks) and John (John Michael Higgins) now have a podcast called Let’s Talk-Apella and provide their hilarious, snarky, politically-incorrect commentary over the musical performances. (These two had me laughing out loud whenever they appeared on screen.) And speaking of the music—the Bellas have come a long way from their “The Sign” days. They pour their heart and soul into some spectacular song performances. Their sound is a great contrast to the equally-talented, sleek, precise German-engineered rivals DSM, whose synchronized moves, beatboxing and electric rhythm also yield some amazing performances.

The second film introduces some hilarious new characters. On the Bellas, there’s Flo (Chrissie Fit), who always seems to have some tragic horrible story from her immigrant family’s past to bring up whenever one of the other Bellas over-exaggerate about the “worst thing ever” that happened to them that day. Legacy Emily (Hailee Steinfeld) has an excellent singing voice and a talent for songwriting—and it’s love at first sight for Benji (Ben Platt) when he first lays eyes on her. The two leads of DSM, Kommissar (Birgitte Hjort Sørensen) and Pieter Krämer (Flula Borg) are not only great singers, but can hold their own when it comes to ridiculous (and hilarious) trash-talking with their rivals. Pitch Perfect 2 also has a talented array of comedic guest stars including David Chase, Keegan-Michael Key, Katey Sagal, Snoop Dogg and more.

This movie plays out more like a series of short comedic interludes rather than one long continuous story, which is a format I have seen utilized in other comedies, such as the most recent Dumb & Dumber and Vacation films. However, I’m not saying this is a bad thing, and there is enough of a storyline woven throughout all of these pieces that ties them altogether so that the film doesn’t feel disjointed.

The musical performances are excellent, and I especially enjoyed the international flavor that is brought to the World Championships. (And who doesn’t love those punny team names, like India’s “Naan-Stops”.) Elizabeth Banks has done an excellent job carrying on the spirit and fun of the first Pitch Perfect film—I would say her directorial debut is an overwhelming success. The film is delightful throughout, and builds to wonderful final performance that is both musically and emotionally fulfilling.

The Blu-ray picture quality is excellent, capturing every performance and scene in beautiful detail. And the audio track is spectacular, making great use of the surround and LFE channels to enhance the musical performances. Watching the World Championships, I was blown away with how great the music sounded—it was almost like being there. The Blu-ray contains about 80 minutes of bonus features, including lots of entertaining behind-the-scenes featurettes with the cast and crew, deleted scenes and a gag reel. In addition, there’s an entertaining feature-length audio commentary with the director/producers. This film is an easy recommendation to fans of the original and potential new fans of the franchise.

What’s Included:

Film: (1:54:46)

Blu-ray:
• 1080p / Widescreen 1.85:1
• Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1, English DVS 2.0, Spanish DTS Digital Surround 5.1, French DTS Digital Surround 5.1
• Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French

DVD:

• 480p / Widescreen 1.85:1
• Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1, English DVS 2.0, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1, French Dolby Digital 5.1
• Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French

Digital Copy (For Redemption Deadline visit NBCUcodes.com):

• UltraViolet Digital HD Copy (via Universal, Flixster, Vudu or CinemaNow)
• iTunes Digital HD Copy
• Bonus Free Digital Movie (Redemption Deadline 12/29/15)
  Sign up to receive email updates from Universal Studios and enter code to receive free digital movie. Select from Because I Said So, The Break-Up, For A Good Time Call…, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason and Bring It On. Quantities of each are limited.

Extras:
* Only a subset of the extras appear on the DVD

• Bonus Song Performed By The Treblemakers (3:27)
  In the film, the Treblemakers perform “Lollpop” by Mika for the incoming Freshmen class. Vocal producer Deke Sharon and actors Skyler Astin (“Jesse”) and Ben Platt (“Benji”) intro this alternate performance of Bruno Mars’ “Locked Out of Heaven” that was recorded but not used. The feature also includes some behind-the-scenes footage of the performance.
• Extended Musical Performances*
  

  • Bellas (1:58)
    Extended performance of the Bellas’ “Convention Performance”.
  • Das Sound Machine (1:23)
    Extended performance of the Das Sound Machine’s “Jump”.
  • Bellas: Finale Clap-Along (:44)
    Extended performance of the Bellas’ clapping intro to their big final number.
• Das Sound Machine Finale Breakdown (2:06)
  Watch Das Sound Machine’s finale song with “All Vocals”, “Background Vocals Only”, “Beat Box Only” or “Lead Vocals Only”. While this is interesting, it would have been better if they had implemented this as a single video with 4 audio tracks, and allowed you to switch in real time via your remote, instead of forcing you to select each version from the main menu.
• Deleted/Extended/Alternate Scenes* (12:14)
  A collection of nine deleted/extended scenes, including some really fun Fat Amy material. Play All or select From “Jesse Drops Off Beca at Work – Extended”, “Treble Party – Alternate”, “Bumper Arrives at Treble Party”, “Treble Party – Extended”, “Car Show: ‘Farter'”, “Intro to Mansion – Extended”, “Beat Box – Extended”, “Setting Up Tents – Deleted” and “Amy and Bumper Make-up – Alternate”.
• Gag Reel* (3:08)
  The cast hams it up for the camera, flub their lines, crack up and just have fun on set.
• Line-Aca-Rama (3:36)
  A humorous collection of alternate takes and improvised lines.
• Green Bay Rap (:52)
  The Green Bay Packers rap in their trailer with some of the guys from DSM.
• Elizabeth Banks’ Directorial Debut (5:20)
  Elizabeth Banks (“Gail”) talks about what it was like directing the film, and the logistics involved in staging the Worlds. The cast and crew talk about what it was like working with the first time director. Includes behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with stars Brittany Snow (“Chloe”), Ben Platt (“Benji”), Kelley Jakle (“Jessica”), Rebel Wilson (“Fat Amy”), Hailee Steinfeld (“Emily”), Flula Borg (“Pieter Krämer”), Skylar Astin (“Jesse”), Shelley Regner (“Ashley”) and Chrissie Fit (“Flo”), choreographer Aakomon “AJ” Jones, and production designer Toby Corbett.
• The Bellas Are Back * (6:13)
  The cast talks about what it was like returning to the world of the Bellas. Includes rehearsal and behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with stars Elizabeth Banks, Brittany Snow, Kelley Jakle, Rebel Wilson, Anna Kendrick (“Beca”), Ester Dean (“Cynthia Rose”), Hana Mae Lee (“Lilly”), Alexis Knapp (“Stacie”), Shelley Regner, Chrissie Fit and Hailee Steinfeld, and choreographer Aakomon “AJ” Jones.
• Aca-Camp (5:04)
  On set with the cast as they have fun filming the a cappella boot camp scenes. Includes interviews with director Elizabeth Banks, producer Max Handelman, and stars Anna Camp (“Aubrey”), Ester Dean, Hailee Steinfeld, Anna Kendrick, Brittany Snow, Kelley Jakle and Chrissie Fit.
• The Making of the Riff- Off (6:02)
  A behind-the-scenes look at the filming of the underground riff-off in the mansion. Includes interviews with director Elizabeth Banks, vocal producer Deke Sharon, Green Bay Packer Clay Matthews, and actors Rebel Wilson, Shelley Regner, Brittany Snow, Hailee Steinfeld, Skylar Astin, Anna Kendrick and Flula Borg.
• The World Championships of A Cappella (9:30)
  A behind-the-scenes look at the filming of the World A Cappella Championship. Includes interviews with director Elizabeth Banks, choreographer Aakomon “AJ” Jones, first assistant choreographer Kyndra “Binkie” Reevey, costume designer Salvador Perez, vocal producer Deke Sharon, singing groups Penn Masala, The Filharmonic, Pentatonix, actors Chrissie Fit, Brittany Snow, Hana Mae Lee, Flula Borg, Kelley Jakle, Andrew Fitzpatrick (“DSM Member”), Hailee Steinfeld, Shelley Regner, Rebel Wilson, Anna Kendrick, Alexis Knapp and Anna Camp, and “Former Bella”s C.J. Perry, Robin Roberts and Kether Donohue.
• Snoop in the House (2:53)
  Go behind-the-scenes as Snoop Dogg arrives on set and films his scenes. Includes interviews with Snoop Dogg, Keegan-Michael Key (“Beca’s Boss”), Hailee Steinfeld and Anna Kendrick.
• Residual Heat Internship (2:26)
  Behind-the-scenes look at the filming of the scenes at the recording studio with Keegan-Michael Key, Anna Kendrick and Hailee Steinfeld.
• An Aca-Love Story: Bumper and Fat Amy (5:26)
  A look at the relationship between Bumper and Fat Amy and their hilarious improvised banter. Includes behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with director Elizabeth Banks and actors Adam Devine (“Bumper”), Rebel Wilson and Ben Platt.
• Legacy: Hailee Steinfeld (6:04)
  On the set with the newest Barden Bella. Includes interviews with director Elizabeth Banks and actors Ester Dean, Hailee Steinfeld, Anna Kendrick, Shelley Regner and Alexis Knapp.
• Feature Commentary* (1:54:46)
  Director/Producer Elizabeth Banks and Producers Paul Brooks and Max Handelman provide an entertaining and informative audio commentary throughout the film. They give a lot of fun production tidbits and interesting anecdotes from the set, and talk about some of the things that didn’t make it into the film.

Final Thoughts:

Pitch Perfect is one of my favorite recent movies, and I was a little nervous when I heard they were making a sequel. However, this follow-up is a complete success IMO and recaptures all of the fun and magic that made the first one so enjoyable. There are lots of laughs, some great new characters and a lot of excellent musical performances. The Blu-ray looks and sounds great, and the disc is loaded with bonus features that are sure to please any fans. This comes highly recommended for both fans of the original and potential new fans of the franchise.