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Initial Thought: I really enjoyed the first one. I also find that Anna Kendrick is one of the major reasons why. When I saw this was coming out I knew I would see it. I like musicals and Anna Kendrick so sue me.
Characters/Acting: Anna Kendrick is enough to get my attention. Add in the talented young Hailee Steinfeld in for even more kudos. The only one here I really could care less about is Rebel Wilson. She never really gives me the kind of funny I like. I like that they got a lot of real acapella teams to give it a sense of authenticity. Also the joke groups like the Green Bay Packers were a funny touch. Flo is a new character who must have joined sometime in between this and the first one. She actually has some of the most disturbingly funny lines besides Lilly. Anna Camp is basically being Sarah Newlin from her first season on True Blood in this. Well with the added characteristics of Aubrey and the situation of this movie. The characters were all still great especially the weirdo Lilly.
Story: There is more acapella and more of the ladies I enjoy. Not really all too sure what the whole plot of this one is. I guess it's just a continuation of the group as they get closer to completing college. I liked how they did the opening as it fits right in. It looks like three literal years have passed since the previous film and they are close to becoming graduates. It also seems that an accident causes the plot of this to unfold. The musical numbers are pretty good some of my favorites include the Uprising/Tsunami, the Riff Off scene, the Cup Song revisit, My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark/All I Do Is Win, and the Bellas final song. Oh that was a nice subtle The Warriors reference right there. The party scene battle was pretty much a rehash of the pool battle from the first one. Who doesn't like a good riff off though. The scene with Snoop Dogg was pretty dope haha. I liked Hailee Steinfeld's original song Flashlight, but it didn't compare to the Cup Song that the first one is famous for. I've noticed in a lot of recent comedies that the younger characters never get some references to pop culture before the 2000s. Why is this a trend these days? It's kind of disappointing whenever I see this because it makes me feel dated when it should just common knowledge. I mean I don't even listen to George Michael and I know who he is. I like the mid credits scene quite a bit. The music was still pretty good.
Directing/Writing: This is Elizabeth Banks' directorial debut. I always adored her on-screen so it shall be interesting to see what she has behind it as well. Kay Cannon also wrote the first of these films with Mickey Rapkin. I'm sure they still got it.
Final Thought: This wasn't quite as good as the first one. I think they had a few too many sub plots going on. Anyways I still found this quite fun and entertaining. The characters were still great. I think it did good as a sequel for sure. If you liked the first one you will probably like this too.
